Kingdom Hearts: The Dark Harbinger
by UltimaGoldDragon
Summary: Nexam, Max, Gene, and Sulley get ambushed by the Heartless and have to figure out what to do with the little girl that escaped and Nexam without causing a panic. Chapter 10 finally up! Note: Updated Chps. 1, 3, and 8.
1. Nexam's Awakening and Journey

Disclaimer: All characters and worlds, unless otherwise noted are copyrights of Disney and Square-Enix. Nexam, Lenne, and Kev belong to me.

Nexam's Awakening and Journey

Nexam stood in a dark room alone. That wasn't what surprised him: that honor belonged to the source of light that provided enough for him to see his surrounding coming from the stain glass panel he stood on. He didn't recognize any of the characters on it. He saw a boy with moderately lengthed and slightly spiky brown hair and eyes that strangely looked like him. In his right hand was what looked like a combination between a sword and scythe with a rather large handle and a keychain. The silver curved blade connected by a blue vine, resembling a cape that trailed to the handle, wrapping around a straight blade like a sword that connects to the upper part of the scythe blade. This created a pocket of sorts between the blade and vine, in which several smaller vines of the same fashion connected intricately to the other side. On the keychain was a sword and shield with the same color scheme. Almost in a way, it reminded him of a giant key. _Where am I? What's going on?_

"Look familiar?" a mysterious voiced asked. For some reason, Nexam took another look at the panel and could have sworn he saw himself as the key bearing boy.

"Who are you?" Nexam asked, trying to hide the confusion he felt about the situation.

"Merely a guide," the voice answered, "to show you the way and warn you of the dangers that loom ahead." As if on cue, three small dark creatures with yellow eyes and antenna appeared. In their weird manner, the Shadow Heartless approached Nexam. Though he did not know what they were, he knew they were hostile.

_Great, I'm being attacked by three shadow things and I have no means to defend myself._ Instantly, the weapon he saw on the panel appeared in his right hand._ Huh?_

"Use the light to defeat the darkness," the voice said. Nexam looked at his keyblade and wasted no time in using it. _Knight's Oath_ popped into his head, probably the name of the weapon. He thrust it into the nearest Heartless, then brought it up diagonally. He watched as the creature disappeared into darkness, releasing the captive heart it held. Nexam ran towards the other two and brought the keyblade's fury upon them. They were quickly reduced to nothing. Instantly, a stairway made of light appeared, leading to another circular panel.

"Guess I climb up these," Nexam said. To his surprise there was no response. "I'm gonna take that as a yes." He climbed up the stairs, destroying any Heartless that appeared before him. More Heartless appeared. "Give me a break." Again, he went to work slaying the fiends. Another stairway appeared and he climbed up it. This time, no Heartless revealed themselves. "That's weird."

"Prepare yourself," the voice said.

"For what?" Nexam asked. It was then he heard a loud piercing roar. He turned around and faced something that looked like it came out of a nightmare, a massive black Heartless with yellow eyes, claws, and fangs, known as Nightmare. The beast swung one of its massive arms at him, only to be blocked by the keyblade. The monster seemed surprised by the maneuver, but not as surprise as Nexam was when he pulled his next feat. He climbed up the arm and headed for the creature's back. The heartless tried to pull him off, but no to avail, Nexam blocked each attempt. Once he reached the shoulders, he slashed furiously at the neck. After a few attacks, the heartless vanished and warped to the other side of the platform.

As Nexam began to fall, Nightmare began to shoot dark blasts of energy at him. Short on ideas, he used the only thing he had, his keyblade. As the blasts neared him, he swung his keyblade, parrying them and sending them back to the Heartless. After doing this a few times, the heartless became stunned. Nexam landed on the ground and threw his keyblade like a javelin at it. Nightmare shrieked in pain as the keyblade bearer ran up the up and jumped off, grabbing his keyblade when he approached it. Back on the ground, he swung his keyblade at the creature. It groaned as it began to vanish, releasing a giant heart. Nexam stood proudly at defeating such a large creature.

"Your journey shall soon begin, keyblade bearer," the voice said.

**KH-KH-KH**

Nexam woke up back in his bed. He looked around and saw that he was in his room.

_Was that a dream, or something more?_ He looked at his hand to find nothing in it. His phone rang, stopping his thoughts about the whole thing. Nexam walked to his desk and picked it up.

"Yo, what's up?" he said.

"Hey Nexam, you ready for tonight?" the caller said.

"What are you talking about Kev?" Nexam asked.

"Uh, I dunno, perhaps your 'date' with destiny, I mean Lenne," Kev answered.

"What the hell are you…Oh crap! I forgot that's today," Nexam replied. Quickly he looked at the clock near him and saw the time was 8:25 P.M. "8:25, I've got 30 minutes. Talk to you later man, and thanks!" He pushed end and went to getting ready. After a quick shower and slapping on some deodorant, he put on his evening wear: a light blue jacket over a grey shirt with blue jeans and his white and blue tennis shoes. He walked over to his desk where a small black leather box sat. He opened it up and removed the sliver necklace with a winged sword on it, placing it around his neck. After winning it in the tournament 2 days prior, he was seldom seen without it. For Nexam, it served as a good luck charm, but something more, a connection to someone, rather would serve as a connection to someone special once he grabbed the other item in the box, the matching ring with wings much like the necklace craved in by a graceful artisan. He held it in his hand as his eyes were fixed upon it, almost trancelike, remembering the final fight against Kev that won him the set and what he intended to do with it that evening. Before he let his nerves get to him, Nexam put the ring one of his jacket's side pockets, waiting for the perfect moment to give it to Lenne. With that tended to, the last part of his appearance he need to work with was his hair, which he combed to the moderately spiky level like he had in his dream and the boy on the panel. He looked at himself in the mirror, a boy at 17 who had finally succeeded in getting the girl of his dreams to spend some time with him, just the two of them. Nexam could have sworn that for a split second, he looked just like the boy he saw on the stained glass panel. He glanced at the clock once again and ran out of his house, never once thinking about going back to pick up his cell phone.

**KH-KH-KH**

Gransburg was a small suburb of the nearby city New Grove. Being a costal town, one of the best spots to visit was the beach, and at night, the clear blue waves under the moonlight were a sight to behold. Nexam couldn't think of a more fitting place for someone as beautiful as Lenne to be. He ran quickly under the rising moon to meet her at a small café bordering the beach. Apparently, he made it just in time. Before him stood Lenne, a beautiful brunette with moderately long hair and eyes that were as glorious as the heavens themselves. She wore a brown blouse with a green undershirt, blue jeans, and white shoes._ Wow, she looks amazing._ His thoughts stopped when she waved at him.

"Nexam, good to see you," Lenne said warmly as she walked towards him. His pulse began to quicken.

_Ok, ok, calm down man, this is it._ "As for you," Nexam replied. "You're looking as good as ever."

"Thanks," Lenne said smiling. Oh how he loved to see her smile.

"So, wanna get something to eat?" He asked with his thumb pointing to the café behind him.

"Sure," Lenne replied, "We're here after all." Nexam let out a small smile. Kev would have killed to see him do that. Lenne started walking towards the café, with him by her side. They sat down at the table and order something to drink and lemonade for Nexam and water for Lenne. They both began to browse through the menu. Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw one of the shadow creatures from his dream.

_Was that what I think it was?_ He stared at it for a moment longer until Lenne spoke up.

"Something wrong?" she asked caringly. Nexam shook his head.

_Snap out of it man, and start getting more sleep. _"Nah, it's nothing. What could be wrong about tonight?" _Nice one you idiot, what are you thinking? Nothing that's what. So much for trying to keep it smooth, eh?_ Leene smiled at it. She liked him and could tell he felt the same way. It was a pity that Nexam was so shy though. Little did she know how long it took him to do this, finally thanks to Kev's coaxing. The waiter broke the silence as he served their food.

"Bon appetite," the waiter said as he placed their food in front of them. Once he was gone, Nexam and Lenne just laughed. They didn't know why or cared. Her presence really soothed him. They talked about various things as the enjoyed their food. Once they were done eating, Nexam left the munny on the bill and they walked towards the beach. The moon was now higher in the sky, and Nexam couldn't help but feel something enchanting about the evening, something that would aide him in his task hopefully.

Nexam and Lenne strolled along the beach watching the clear blue waves come and go upon the sands. The heavens looked so peaceful which was how Nexam felt for the first time in a long time. "So, uhm, are you having a good time?" he asked with a small hit of his nerves in it, placing one hand on his pocket to make sure the ring was still there. Nexam knew it was, he wasn't that careless, but it did ease him a bit.

"Sure am," Lenne replied happily, "what about you?"

"Yeah!" Nexam answered boldly, "most definitely, heck it's probably the best night of my life!" _Maybe too bold you hopeless romantic._ At a different part of the beach, their friend Kev looked upon them proudly.

"Way to go Nexam," he said, "and about damn time too." He resumed his walk, grinning proudly at his work, feeling a small pang in his heart because of it, but shook it off quickly.

"Wow," Nexam said, "the sky looks amazing."

"Sure does," Lenne replied as she too stared at the heavens. The purplish light of the moon was a sight to behold, as was the shooting star they saw. Nexam's eyes drifted from the heavens towards Lenne.

"You look so beautiful," he said, and rather poetically without knowing. _Doh, why'd you do that?_ Lenne then faced him.

"Thanks," she replied, "I'm flattered." She began to blush, as did Nexam. They began to lean closer towards each other, getting closer and closer to that kiss. Just as their lips were about to touch, they were interrupted by a scream.

"Aah!" a woman screamed. "Monsters!" Quickly they looked around and saw numerous Shadows running across the beach and town attacking anyone nearby.

"What are those things?" Lenne asked as she stood up and moved closer to Nexam, being filled with fear.

"I don't know," Nexam answered guessingly, "but I know it's not safe here anymore. C'mon, let's go!" He held out his right hand which Lenne promptly took as they ran through the city. _What the hell is going on?_ For some reason, he remembered the words spoken to him in his dream. "_To warn you of the dangers that loom ahead…your journey shall begin soon, keyblade bearer_." They ran as fast as they could, but were ambushed by more Shadows.

"We're trapped," a terrified Lenne shrieked, holding on very tight to Nexam's hand. "Aaah!" she screamed as they saw a person loose their heart to the Heartless and become a Shadow. The nearby Heartless that heard her scream turned their attention to the fear filled Lenne and Nexam. He turned his head real quick and saw that the beach was clear. It was then that Nexam got an idea. "The water." He turned around, never loosening his grip on Lenne's hand.

"Didn't we come this way?" she asked confused and filled with fear.

"Yeah," Nexam answered, "but they didn't appear in the water." It was his one shot, and he was going to take it. There was no way he would let any of those abominations get to Lenne without taking him down first. That was until fate intervened.

"Nexam!" Lenne shouted. Instantly he turned around and saw her being sucked into a dark portal.

"Lenne!" he shouted in response as he ran to her and held her hand with both of his. "Just hang on, I'll get you outta there!" He was pulling with all his might, but to no avail, the darkness was too strong for him. "NO!" Lenne's face went under, followed by the arm he held for dear life. "Dammit!" Nexam muttered as he pounded the ground with a fist. "I was too slow…I couldn't help her in time." He looked up and saw Shadows all around him. His keyblade, Knight's Oath, materialized in his hand. He glared at the heartless and swung furiously at them. Heartless don't normally know fear, but those Shadows did as they met their end to an enraged Nexam.

**KH-KH-KH**

Kev watched the dark siege upon their town in shock. Everything he and his friends had ever known to be true, to be safe, was being swallowed by the darkness. Even worse was the Heartless attacking the townspeople, capturing their hearts as they faded away from humanity and joined their ranks. "What the hell is going on?" he asked, though there was no solitary person around who could possibly answer him. Kev then noticed that a Heartless was approaching him. As if it were a reflex, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife. "C'mon you damn freak, make my day!" The Shadow charged at him only to be met by his knife flying into its head. The creature faded, releasing the heart it had just recently captured. Kev took his knife and ran to where Nexam was fighting off waves of Heartless.

**KH-KH-KH**

Nexam was getting exhausted after battling wave after wave of Shadows. Still, more came, and he would not rest until he slew every last one of them. _Those bastards are gonna pay._ Left, right, up, and down he swung his keyblade taking as many Heartless down as possible. One was coming up from behind him as he was busily fighting off 5 others. He glanced at it and was prepared for the end when he saw a flying knife finish the job for him.

"Nexam!" a tired Kev greeted. "What the hell is going on here?" He looked around and saw that Nexam was alone, and apparently extremely upset. "Where's Lenne?"

"The darkness took her," Nexam muttered in response, loathing himself with every word. "I couldn't save her in time." Kev glanced at the weapon in his hand.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked. "And for all it's worth, what in hellfire is it?"

"I don't know," Nexam answered, "but it can take out those damn shadow creatures, so it's welcome in my book." That was perhaps the most cheery he sounded during the entire ordeal. He noticed a Heartless approaching Kev. "Look out" Quickly, he put his keyblade to work as he chunked it at the Heartless, killing it instantly.

"Whoa, nice moves there buddy," Kev replied, "and thanks for saving my skin."

"You saved mine," Nexam added, "and that's what friends are for, right?" Kev nodded his head.

"You got it," he replied. Kev tried to walk but couldn't. It felt as if some powerful force was pulling him in somewhere. He turned his head to see a dark portal dragging him in.

"Kev!" Nexam yelled as he grabbed a hold of his friend. Kev knew that he didn't have much time and if Nexam held on, he would be dragged in to.

"Forget about me," Kev replied, "go on, get to somewhere safe and find Lenne."

"I can't just leave you here!" Nexam rebutted.

"Nexam," Kev replied as he stared his friend straight in the eye, "she needs you more than I do." Nexam stood there for a moment and nodded his head. "Good boy, now go, get outta here and quick."

"Take care of yourself," Nexam added as he ran off like his friend ordered him. He hoped, no, he knew that they would see each other again. It was just a question of when and where. Kev quit resisting and faded into the darkness.

_Go get 'em Nexam._

Nexam ran from a city quickly fading away, quickly bringing an end to the existence of any Heartless in his wake. That all stopped when he heard the roar of the best from his dream. He turned around and saw Nightmare destroying what was left of his home world. Nexam readied his keyblade, and threw it javelin style straight at the monster's head, right between the yellow eyes of its snout. It roared in pain as he climbed up the arm and jumped onto its head. Quickly, he grabbed his keyblade, holding the sharp end against the Nightmare, and ran down the top of its head and back. Nexam held on to it with a stern grip as it ripped through the Heartless and pulled it out midway between the back and ground. The monster swung its massive arm at him, this time connecting with Nexam, sending him back a few feet.

The keyblade bearer then charged towards Nightmare, thrusting his weapon into its arm. It groaned in pain from the attack, but Nexam pulled out his keyblade, and continued his onslaught, swinging it furiously at the arm. The Heartless was stunned, and he wasted no time in seizing this opportune moment. Once more he climbed up the arm and this time made the neck his target. After a few slashes, Nightmare grabbed Nexam and threw him into the air. Next, it prepared his shadow blast ability, shooting sever dark orbs of energy at him. Nexam waited as he fell down and parried them back to the Heartless. He parried each one of them that was near him, stunning the monster. Once he was grounded again he ran towards it, jumping into the air and attacking its lowered head. Nightmare groaned in pain as it began to fade away, releasing a giant captive heart, just like in Nexam's dream. However, he didn't expect what happened next.

After the Heartless' destruction, the black hole that was destroying their world began to vacuum faster. Nexam planted his keyblade in the ground and held onto the handle.

"This is it," the voice he head in his dream said.

"What's it?" Nexam asked angered. "Who are you and what do you want with my friends?"

"Your journey is about to begin," the voice answered.

"What do you mean?" Nexam asked. "Why me? What's so good about me?"

"Your time keyblade bearer has come," the voice replied. Nexam felt his keyblade slowly slip out of the ground.

_This is it then._ It moved again. He could feel the force of the black hole dragging him in. His keyblade was fully out of the ground now, sending Nexam straight into the vortex, wherever it would lead. As he floated away, he took once last glimpse at the ruins that once made up his home, Gransburg. That was the last he saw of it as he faded into the dark vortex.


	2. Welcome to Tranquil Terrace

Welcome to Tranquil Terrace

When Nexam came to, he saw that he was somewhere else completely. It was a large town, much larger than Gransburg was. _Was it all a dream? No, this isn't Gransburg._ He looked at his hand and summoned his keyblade, Knight's Oath. _Whoa, how the hell did I do that?_ After thinking this, his temper flared. _Oh sure, now I can summon this 'keyblade' at will, but not when I could have used it to save Lenne!_ He threw it and it appeared back in his hand._ So this thing has a few tricks of its own eh?_ Nexam stood up, and noticed he was in an alley. If there was a universal law with alleys, he knew that the odds of being jumped by petty criminal were fairly good, and those were not odds he was willing to face right now. Not that he was truly scared of them, though he was somewhat with due respect, but his mind was too preoccupied to focus on combat.

Nexam walked out of the alley and noticed that for a town of its size, it was fairly peaceful. Then again, the sun was out, but still. His mind then floated back towards the fateful night. _Lenne, I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you in time._ He knelt on one knee._ I swear on this keyblade that I will find you, and Kev for that matter. I'll also find a way to restore Gransburg._ Nexam rose, satisfied with the oath he had sworn to himself, and continued his walk about the city. He saw numerous shops, selling various potions and armor pieces. Seeing that he was in a strange place, with no means of escape, he walked to the nearest shop and picked up a few items. Nexam didn't notice the red haired man with a ponytail in a black suit who was surveying him from a distance, watching his every move like a hawk.

As Nexam left the store, he glanced at a Shadow that had just appeared. _Here too?_ He took out his keyblade and made short work out of the Heatless as his pursuer simply watched, trying to study every detail. "So those things are here too," he said as his keyblade vanished. "What's going on?" Nexam shook his head and continued walking through Tranquil Terrace.

**KH-KH-KH**

The red haired man picked up his phone and dialed a number. "He's here boss," the man said. He waited for the reply. "Yes, it's the keyblade bearer we're looking for." Another pause as he listened. "How the hell do I know? Well, let's see the kid's got a friggin' keyblade and just took out a Heartless." Again, he patiently listened to the person on the other line, though his patience was wearing thin. "Yes sir, I'll follow him and see what he does." He hung up the phone and continued to monitor Nexam who was now moving about the city.

**KH-KH-KH**

A few Shadows would occasionally reveal themselves as Nexam made his way through the city, only to be met by his keyblade. He had to admit, he was improving at this, though the heartless seemed to be slightly stronger than the ones he faced in Gransburg. Nexam probably would have smiled expect that he too concerned with finding his friends to notice his own self improvements. After wandering around aimlessly for quite some time, he found himself in an area of the city with a large fountain at the center. It was then that Nexam realized he had no idea where he was going. _Ok, you're in a new place, and now you've walked around who knows how long and still no dice. Maybe someone here can tell you what you need to know. Maybe someone has seen Lenne or Kev._ His thoughts were interrupted by a wave of Heartless that was wrecking havoc through the city. In it were the usual Shadows, some Knights, slightly armored Heartless, and Stalkers, which bore an uncanny resemblance to people, besides the Heartless emblem on their chests and their yellow eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me," Nexam said as he charged into the fray, doing his best to conserve energy. He swung his keyblade at the Shadows, taking them out fairly quickly. Next up were the Knights, which he noticed were a bit smarter than the Heartless he was used to fighting, and stronger too. Nexam blocked, parried, and dodged for the most part for the Stalkers were starting to give him trouble. After using up what energy he had left, Nexam fell down on one knee, breathing heavily as he looked at the rest of the Heartless wave he had yet to kill. "I'm sorry guys; I guess I'm not strong enough." It would take a miracle to save him.

**KH-KH-KH**

On top of a nearby building stood Vincent, cloaked in red and with an armored gold claw on his left arm, and gold armored boots on his feet. He looked down and saw the wave of Heartless wreck havoc on the Recreational District of Tranquil Terrace. That wasn't what surprised him, the Heartless were becoming more and more common with each passing day. No, what surprised Vincent on his patrol of the city was the young boy fighting them off, and doing a decent job at it too. What made this more interesting was that he was using a keyblade to do battle. Had he not been so heavily outnumbered, he might have stood a chance. Now he stood on one knee, preparing for his end by the Heartless. That's when Vincent jumped into action.

**KH-KH-KH**

A Stalker began to charge at Nexam only to be met with a life ending bullet. Once the shot hit, the Heartless faded away, releasing the captive heart. Nexam was surprised at this sight and looked around. He saw a man cloaked in red in midair shooting at the heartless with his three barreled gun with amazing marksmanship. One by one, the Heartless disappeared after being shot by Vincent. He landed in front of Nexam, the part of his mantle on his back flowing with the slight breeze like his long black hair. Vincent turned around, facing Nexam. He held up his gun and shot in Nexam's direction. He cringed, holding up his keyblade to deflect the shot. Nexam noticed that he was still alive. "Hey, what was that for?" he asked irritated.

"I just saved your life," Vincent answered in his normal, cold voice. Nexam turned around and saw the Heartless that was about to attack him fade away. The combination of stress and fatigue finally gave in and he fell on the ground unconscious. Vincent grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder.

"And where do you think you're going with him?" a voiced asked. Vincent turned around to face the red haired man in a suit. He had goggles on his head and weird red tattoos on his face.

"The kid comes with me Reno," Vincent answered. "You have a problem with that?"

"My boss needs to see the keyblade kid," Reno replied.

"We're both on the same side, fighting the Heartless," Vincent added. "Unless Rufus brought them here."

"The hell do you get off," Reno replied angrily. "No, we're on the same side. That still doesn't change things; we'll see him before this is all over."

"Hmph," Vincent added, "give your boss my regards."

"You mean Rufus?" Reno asked, slightly confused by Vincent's request.

"I meant Tseng," Vincent replied. He was a Turk once after all, but that was a long time ago. He walked off towards their base, leaving Reno standing alone. Shortly after Vincent left, Reno's phone rang.

"Reno here," he said, waiting for a response. "No, Vincent's got him." He listened. "Are you crazy, I'm not gonna do anything that'll piss him off, especially after what Hojo did to him!" Silence, then Reno spoke again. "Right, I'll keep an eye on the keyblade guy. Oh, Vincent sends his regards Tseng." He hung up and walked through the city.

**KH-KH-KH**

Vincent walked to a building that appeared to be nothing to those who knew nothing about a small group. To them, this was headquarters. Quickly, he entered hoping to throw off the pursuing Reno. This keyblade bearer was important; there was no doubt about that, but now that the Turks were after him, the situation must have changed. Vincent walked to the counter of the cover up store and saw a blonde man in blue and brown working on something behind the counter. "If you're not a beautiful woman desparetly in need of comfort from a charming and strong guy, or the help of such a person, then you might as well leave."

"Enough of this," Vincent replied as he pulled out his gun and shot the wall behind the counter.

"That's it!" the blond haired man yelled as he rose from his work, holding his trusty automatic crossbow in his hands. Vincent just starred at him as if he were an idiot. "Oh Vincent, it's just you." He turned around and looked at the wall. "Would it kill you to knock or say something? Well, what brings you back so early from your rounds?"

"I need a place to set the kid down Edgar," Vincent answered. Edgar looked at Nexam and nodded his head, leading Vincent to one of the back rooms. Quickly they set him on the bed as a woman with blonde hair tied back wearing red walked in.

"Vincent, you're early, what gives?" she asked.

"I found him," Vincent answered, pointing at the unconscious Nexam.

"The keyblade bearer?" she asked. Vincent nodded his head as he crossed his arms.

"The Turks are also looking for him," he added. "I ran into Reno after I picked him up."

"The Turks eh," Edgar replied as he placed a hand on his chin. "What could they want with him?"

"Probably to experiment with," the blonde woman answered, with a hint of sorrow to her normally cheery voice. Edgar looked at her and sunk his head.

"Sorry to bring that up Terra," he said. He knew her story all to well, and Vincent's too, at least what he cared to share about it. An uneasy silence fell about the room. That was soon broken as a young man, about Nexam's age, with spiky blonde hair and a black tattoo on his left cheek wearing a blue and red jacket over a black shirt, blue shorts, and red and black shoes walked into the room and tripped on a cable.

"Nooo!" he yelled as the hotdog he was holding fell to the ground. He stared at his beloved food with a profound sense of sadness. "Dammit, that was the last one too." Vincent merely shook his head at the sight. "What?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it Zell," Edgar replied as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Zell looked around and saw Nexam resting.

"Who's the dude?" he asked.

"The keyblade bearer," Terra answered, "the one we've been looking for." Zell looked at him again.

"SWEET!" he yelled as he jumped into the air. Nexam started to stir.

"Lenne…," he said as he moved about. The group just watched him, wondering what had happened to him.

"Say Vincent, where'd you find him?" Edgar asked.

"At the Recreational District," Vincent answered in his dead serious tone. "He was fighting a wave of Heartless until he gave out. I just happened to be patrolling that district and took care of the rest for him."

"And then you ran into Reno," Terra added. Vincent nodded his head.

"The Turks are after him too?" Zell asked. Vincent, Terra, and Edgar nodded their heads. Zell pounded his fist. "Ha, those has beens got nothing on us!" Nexam stirred again and began to open his eyes.

"He's waking up," Terra said as they gathered around him. "Hey there, are you ok?"

"Where…where am I?" Nexam asked as he sat up.

"You're safe," Edgar answered. Nexam looked around and saw Vincent.

"Thanks for taking me in," Nexam replied as he stood up. "Now, who are you guys and where am I?"

"I'm Terra," Terra answered, "and this is Vincent who saved you, Edgar, and Zell," she continued, pointing to each person respectively.

"I guess I owe you one Vincent," Nexam replied. "Oh, I'm Nexam."

"Nice to meet ya man," Zell added as he grabbed his hand. "I hear you're quite the fighter with that keyblade of yours."

"Keyblade," Nexam said as it appeared in his hand.

"Amazing, it responds to your command," Edgar replied, intrigued by the weapon. "If only I could get some of my inventions to do the same. Oh, how the ladies would be impressed." He grinned at the thought as Nexam looked at him confused.

"He's always like that," Terra added shaking her head and sighing. "I guess you could call that normal." Nexam thought for a moment.

"And the monsters I was fighting?" he asked.

"You mean the Heartless," Terra answered.

"Heartless?" Nexam asked.

"They're creatures born from the darkness in a person's heart," Vincent answered. "They act upon instinct, seeking as many hearts as they can capture." Nexam remembered what he saw back in Gransburg and cringed at the thought. Then his friends cam back to mind.

"Lenne, Kev, have you seen them?" he asked desperately. Edgar's attention focused on the girl's name.

"Uh, I haven't, uh, what about you guys?" Zell asked. The others shook their heads in response.

"I only found you," Vincent added.

"Who are they by the way," Edgar asked.

"They're my friends," Nexam answered. "They were with me when the Heartless began to attack our town, Gransburg. They were sucked into some dark portal and so was I eventually."

"I'm sorry to hear that your world was destroyed," Terra said comfortingly.

"My world, wait, are you saying I'm on a whole another world?" Nexam asked.

"Yep," Zell answered, "what did you think Tranquil Terrace was?" Nexam stood silently, taking all this new information in.

"So much for being Tranquil," he added caustically.

"Well, there might be someone who can help you," Edgar replied.

"The Blue Fairy," Terra added, "she should know what's going on."

"Who's that?" Nexam asked.

"She told us about ya," Zell answered.

"Well then, what are we waiting for, let's go!" Nexam replied with a new found sense of hope.

"Only one problem," Vincent added. "She's on the other side of the city, and the Heartless stand between where we are and the Governor's area." Nexam stared at his keyblade.

"If this thing can fight the Heartless, and you guys," he said, "then we shouldn't have a problem cutting our way through." Vincent let out a chuckle as Zell cheered and Terra smiled.

"Nexam and I will go see her," Vincent replied. Zell looked a bit down.

"Hey, I wanna go too!" he said. "I'm not just gonna sit here and miss the Heartless butt-kickin'!"

"You sure you can handle it?" Vincent asked. Zell nodded. "Fine, you can come with us. Terra, Edgar, guard the fort."

"Will do," Edgar said, "just save some Heartless for us." Nexam smiled for the first time since the Heartless attack.

"Take care of yourselves," Terra added. "We'll be here when you get back." Vincent nodded and walked out the door, followed by Nexam and an ever eager Zell.


	3. Heartless, Nobodies, and the Quest Begin

Heartless, Nobodies, and the Quest Begins

As soon as the group of three made up of Nexam, Vincent, and Zell stepped into the alley outside their headquarters in the Merchant Quarter, they were greeted by a wave of Heartless. Nexam hated to admit it, but this was starting to become routine. His keyblade appeared in his hand, Vincent pulled out his gun, and Zell began pounding the nearest Shadow with his fists. Nexam swung his weapon at the Shadows and Knights, horizontally, vertically, diagonally, every which way, while defending and parrying when need be. Zell's punches hit hard and fast as he pummeled the Heartless in his general area. Vincent shot the ones that were further out with ease, reducing their advancing numbers quickly. One would fall and another a few moments later, all disappearing as the Heartless do. However, he was too occupied with this to notice the Stalker one approaching from his left side. Nexam looked up and saw it. "Vincent, look out!"

Out of the corner of Vincent's eye, he saw the Stalker leap at him, only to be met by furious slashes from his gold claw. Nexam looked at the enigmatic man in awe before returning to fighting off the Heartless. "Thanks," Vincent said as he continued to shoot the approaching enemy.

"No prob," Nexam replied as he thrust his keyblade into a Knight. He looked up and saw about 10 Heartless, Shadows and Stalkers surrounding a blitzing Zell. "Zell," he yelled. Zell looked up at him and nodded his head. Without wasting anymore time, Nexam threw his keyblade boomerang style at the part of the group he was facing. As the spinning weapon approached, Zell jumped into the air. A split second later, Nexam's attack broke through that part of the wave and the other chunk behind it. Zell jumped down, landing a few powerful kicks at the remaining Heartless. The keyblade returned to the hand of its master who continued to make short work of any remaining Heartless. A few moments later, the group had defeated every one of the Heartless around headquarters while clearing out the rest of the area as well.

That task now complete, Vincent, Nexam, and Zell entered the Recreational District of Tranquil Terrace. People busied themselves with making their various purchases. Zell looked around and ran off to the nearest hotdog stand to replace the one he dropped earlier. Vincent crossed his arms and shook his head at the energetic, hot dog crazed teen as he came back with his prize, two actually, smiling victorious. "Yo Nexam!" Nexam looked up at him. "Here, take it." Zell handed him the other hot dog he was holding.

"Thanks," Nexam replied as he eagerly ate it. He hadn't eaten in awhile, and after being dumped on this world, he lost his sense of time. Before Nexam finished it, he looked up at Vincent. "Hey Vincent, you want a bite?" Vincent shook his head.

"Thanks, but I'm not a hot dog person," he answered. "Eat up and please don't choke." Vincent glanced directly at Zell, who shrugged his shoulders in response. Once the two teens finished eating their food, they resumed their walk to the Governor's Plaza, unaware of the grey creature that observed them before fading into a wall.

**KH-KH-KH**

In the Governor's Palace, a tall skyscraper with the words Shin-Ra on it, sat the leader of Tranquil Terrace, and man with short and orderly blonde hair in a white suit. Standing before him were the four members of the Turks, Reno, and blonde woman, a bald man with a slight goatee and sunglasses over his eyes, and a man with black hair. The governor rose from his seat and walked to the window behind him and gazed upon the city. He turned around and faced the group. "You said Vincent took the kid," he said calmly with his eyes focusing on Reno. Tseng nodded his head.

"Yes sir, Vincent took him to their base, Governor Rufus," he replied. Rufus glared at Reno.

"And the location of the Returners' base is still hidden?" Rufus asked with irritancy.

"Not quite," Reno added. Rufus looked up with interest. "After Vincent left, I followed him directly into the Merchant Quarter. Their base is in an alley way, disguised as a mechanic shop. Hell, I bugged the place while we were there." The red haired Turk grinned.

"You mean we bugged their headquarters," Tseng replied. Reno glared at him.

"Don't loose your cool Reno," the blonde woman added.

"Err," Reno replied, trying to remain composed. Elena just smirked at him while their boss shook his head.

"Elena, Reno!" Tseng said, calling them to order.

"Sorry boss," the both replied.

"Anyway, Rude over here's in charge of the feed," Reno added.

"And where are they heading?" Rufus asked. Rude spoke.

"They're on their way here to see the Blue Fairy," he answered. "Vincent and Zell are with him."

"Bring them here before they speak with her," Rufus replied, "by any means necessary, understood? Oh, and capture those two, I'll need them to lure the others out of hiding."

"Yes sir!" the four Turks answered.

"Good," Rufus replied, "Dismissed." He walked back to his chair and sat down, tending to the affairs of his company and city. Reno, Rude, Tseng, and Elena walked out of his office and into the elevator. They knew what they had to do, bring Nexam to Rufus, alive at that.

**KH-KH-KH**

Vincent, Zell, and Nexam walked into the circular Recreational District. Nexam saw the fountain at the center and remembered that this was where he had fought off a wave of Heartless with Vincent, who then took him to their base. Not to his surprise, a few Heartless decided to have some fun with them. Too bad that the only fun they would get would be either the swing of a keyblade, the pummeling of fists, and or a quick bullet to end their miserable misbegotten existences. "I'd love to stay and play man, uhm, thingy," Zell said as he was beating one of the Heartless to a pulp, "but we've got somewhere to be. No hard feelings right?" With that, he punched a Stalker hard in the stomach, causing it to fall and fade away. "My bad," Zell added with a mischievous grin.

"No, that sounds about right," Nexam replied as he swung his keyblade into the head of one of the Knights.

"My patience is growing thin," Vincent added as he shot at the Knights and Stalkers approaching him, and attacked with his claw to the one nearby. They had finished off the wave. "Keep moving; we can't afford to waste anymore time." Nexam nodded as he and Zell ran behind Vincent, leaving the Recreational District after satisfying its name with the Heartless encounter. The Governor's Plaza was filled with tall skyscrapers. Nexam gazed in awe as he kept up with his comrades.

_This is definitely bigger than home._ Dead ahead of the group was the entrance to the Blue Fairy's house, looking much like the regular houses in the district, unless one knew otherwise. However, standing in between that and them stood Reno and Rude.

"And what do have here?" Reno asked. "Vincent, a punk, and the keyblade boy."

"What do you two want?" Vincent asked irritably.

"Him," Rude answered pointed at Nexam.

"Me?" Nexam asked surprised. "For what?"

"Boss's orders kid," Reno answered. Nexam starred at the ground for a moment before summoning his keyblade. Reno's eyes gleamed at it, Rude just looked at it through his shades. "C'mon, we're on the same side." Nexam looked up intently.

"Don't listen to them," Vincent replied.

"Huh?" Nexam asked confused, almost expecting Zell to say something of the sort. To his surprise, the young fighter was usually silent, starring straight at Rude with an angry glare.

"They just want to control you by filling your head with ambition," Vincent added.

"Oh no, you're just too clever," Reno replied sarcastically.

"The kid's old enough to make up his own mind," Rude added. Nexam starred at the Turks, at Vincent and Zell, and at his keyblade.

"So, you gonna come peacefully or what?" Reno asked.

"Yeah right," Nexam answered in a deadly serious, yet sarcastic way.

"As you wish," Rude replied as he popped his knuckles. Reno took out his electro-staff.

"Looks like we'll have to knock some sense into you," Vincent added.

"Yo Baldie!" Zell yelled. Rude glared at him. "You ain't taking me down this time."

"I show you some respect punk!" Rude replied with a hint of anger in his voice. For the first time since Nexam had met him, Zell was acting serious. He looked up at Vincent questioningly.

"He has a score to settle with him," Vincent answered. "Best to leave him to it, unless he needs support."

"Will do," Nexam added as he blocked Reno's electro-staff, countering soon after. While Reno was stunned for a split second, Vincent tried to slash him with his claw, which was blocked by a mere split second. Zell's punches were either blocked or dodged by the tall Rude. He then threw in a few punches and kicks of his own. Zell managed to block most of them, but he was taking more hits than Rude was, that was certain. He then punched with his left, then right, both blocked by the Turk. He was about to kick with his left leg when he pummeled an unsuspecting Rude in the stomach. That was enough to make him angry.

Reno occupied himself with trying to take Vincent out, but wasn't having much luck. Vincent had him on the defensive, with Nexam swinging at him as well. Reno swung his small staff and a wave of electricity hit the two attackers, sending back a bit. Rude continued his onslaught of punches and kicks at Zell, both combatants feeling some fatigue. Reno was in the same boat once Nexam and Vincent came too. Nexam tried to thrust his keyblade at the Turk only to have the attempt parried before success.

**KH-KH-KH**

From his office, Rufus viewed the fight outside on the video monitor. He watched with interest in Nexam and his keyblade, completely fascinated by its power. Harnessing that power and equipping an army with it would make him the most powerful man in the universe, he already ruled over this world. The Heartless would pose no threat and the other worlds would have to submit to his will. His thoughts were distracted by the appearance of an unexpected and unwelcome guest in Tranquil Terrace.

**KH-KH-KH**

During the middle of the fray, a dark portal appeared and a man in a black cloak with his head covered by a hood entered. He eyed each person until he focused on Nexam and his keyblade. "So this is the kid I've heard so much about," the man said in a calculating manner. "Not much to see here if you ask me."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Reno asked infuriated by the interruption to his task.

"Nobody," the man answered, laughing afterwards. He pointed at Nexam. "You there, kid, come with me."

"What is it with people ordering me to follow them today?" Nexam asked as he thought about the situation. The cloaked man looked at him. "Get real, I'm not following you!"

"Smart boy," the man replied, almost congratulating Nexam. "Now we do things my way." He snapped his fingers, causing fifteen grey creatures to appear. They moved in an odd manner, similar, yet different to that of a Shadow. On their bodies was what looked like the emblem of the Heartless, but upside down and white.

"Zell," Vincent said, "take Nexam out of here." Zell nodded his head in response.

"What about you?" Nexam asked. Vincent chuckled.

"I'll be fine, now go," he answered.

"I'd do as he says," Zell added as Vincent's eyes began to glow red. "You don't wanna mess with him when he's like this dude, trust me." Nexam gave his head a nod.

"Looks like we'll have to finish this later," Reno replied as he faced the Dusks.

"Fine by me," Rude added. Zell and Nexam began to run towards the Blue Fairy's house.

"I don't think so kids," the cloaked man said as he moved his left hand quickly in their direction, creating a barrier. Nexam and Zell stopped as they hit it, unable to pass.

"Guess we're gonna stay and kick some ass then," Zell said as they ran back.

"Guess so," Nexam added, readying Knight's Oath. The cloaked man snapped his fingers and his minions marched forward while he stepped back into the dark portal. Nexam swung his keyblade at the nearest Dusk, blocking and dodging its quick attacks, yet noticed something about their movement. He jumped over it and thrust his keyblade into its back, surprising the Nobody. However, these things didn't go down as easily as some of the Heartless they fought earlier. Reno swung his staff while Rude and Zell pummeled any Dusks in their wake. Vincent shot at any in his range, shot after shot until they would drop and fade away. He was wasting too many bullets on these things and needed some other way of killing them and fast. They were still a bit worn out from their last battle.

Nexam looked over at Vincent and was amazed as the man transformed into a grey monster with horns, claws, and wings, with glowing red eyes. Reno and Rude looked terrified at Vincent's Chaos form, but refocused their attention on the Nobodies. Vincent lunged at the Dusks, attacking furiously with his claws. He picked one up and threw it at another Nobody. The two Dusks flew back in Nexam's direction. He smirked as they came closer and swung his keyblade like a baseball hit, connecting with the unfortunate Nobodies who hit a wall and disappeared. Rude managed to grab one and toss it straight into the air. As it came down, the Turk did a spinning kick to send it to the remaining Dusks. Moments later, after one final swing of the keyblade, the monsters had all been defeated.

They looked up and saw that the barrier was gone. Vincent returned to his normal form to a surprised Nexam, and scared Reno and Rude. "I have a trick or two I can pull in a bind," he said regarding what they witnessed. Nexam nodded.

"Good thing too," he replied catching his breath, "I don't know if we could have won without ya."

"Enough chat guys, we gotta move," Zell added. The two Turks dusted off their suits and made their way back to Rufus' office. Quickly, the three members of the Returners ran towards the Blue Fairy's house, hoping for no more random encounters with anything that would hinder them.

**KH-KH-KH**

Rufus, Tseng, and Elena all watched the battle with the Nobodies and saw that Reno and Rude were coming back empty handed. "I told you we should have gone," Elena said to Tseng.

"Wouldn't have made a difference with that person showing up," he replied. He looked up at Rufus was irritated and intrigued by this turn of events. "Sir?"

"So others have come into play it seems," Rufus stated, "and much sooner than I thought. Fine, we'll play their little game for now."

**KH-KH-KH**

The trio opened the door to the Blue Fairy's house and stepped in. This was no ordinary house however, for before them was a small cottage built on a small island. Vincent walked forward and stepped over the water, causing an enchanted blue bridge to appear with each step. Nexam and Zell looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They followed the mysterious Vincent and entered the cottage. A beautiful blonde woman and a blue gown sat on a chair with two transparent blue wings on her back, waiting for her guests to arrive. She stood up and greeted the visitors. "Welcome to my home," she said in a warm, caring voice. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."

"Don't mind if I do ma'am," Zell replied as he plopped himself in a chair. Vincent glanced at him and tried not to shake his head.

"I trust you know why we're here," Vincent added.

"Yes," the Blue Fairy replied, "you seek information regarding Nexam, his keyblade, and the enemies you've faced." Vincent nodded his head. "Nexam," she continued, "do you know why you have the keyblade?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't," Nexam answered, "let alone know what to do with it fully."

"You have been chosen to help save worlds from the Heartless," she replied, "much like the other keyblade bearer Sora on the other side of the universe." Nexam looked up in surprise.

"You mean there's more than one keyblade bearer?" he asked.

"Yes," the Blue Fairy answered, "but unfortunately for the worlds on this side, he's too busy fighting off the Heartless there, Organization XIII, and the Nobodies."

"Organization XIII, Nobodies, what are those?" Nexam asked. The Blue Fairy moved her wand and the image of a person appeared.

"Vincent's already told you what happens when a person looses their heart," she answered, moving her wand to change the image from a person to a Heartless, a Shadow to be precise. "They become a Heartless, constantly seeking out people's hearts. However, should a person with a strong will loose their heart…" She moved her wand once more, changing the Shadow into a Dusk, "a Nobody is also created. A person cannot exist without their heart; therefore Nobodies do not truly exist. Unlike the Heartless, Nobodies are capable of acting organized, planning, and so on. This one you see before you is known as a Dusk."

"We just beat up some of those things," Zell added as he stared at the Nobody.

"Then you probably saw this one as well," the Blue Fairy continued as she waved her wand one more time. The Dusk's image changed into five people wearing black cloaks like the one they encountered a bit earlier. Vincent nodded his head. "There are Nobodies that retain their human form as the ones you see here. In our part of the universe, a group of Nobodies much like the ones from Organization XIII in Sora's area are commanding the lesser Nobodies to do their bidding. They refer to themselves the Five Judges."

"The Five Judges," Nexam repeated as he put the name to memory. The Blue Fairy nodded her head.

"Yes Nexam, they seek you and your keyblade," she replied.

"My keyblade," Nexam said, "but why, what's so special about me?"

"The keyblade alone has the power to seal the worlds from the Heartless," the Blue Fairy answered. "It also releases the captive hearts from the Heartless. It is a truly powerful weapon, and would bring chaos and destruction if placed in the wrong hands. That is why the fates chose you, because of your heart." Nexam placed his hand over his heart and nodded acceptingly.

"I think I understand now," he replied. "But what about my friends Lenne and Kev, do you know anything about them?" His face revealed his concern just as much as his words.

"If you believe in your heart that you will find them, you will," the Blue Fairy answered as warmly as before." Nexam knew what she said was true, and would not rest until he found them. "Now, there's one last thing I can do for you." She waved her wand one last time and tapped Nexam's shoulder with it. His clothes began to glow white as their appearance changed. His jacket was now a darker blue with black outlines around the lower pocket and black accents on his arms, middle, and lower parts of the jacket. Two grey pads covered his shoulders like armor, and connected to each were two light blue straps forming half of an 'x.' If Nexam wore his jacket closed, the straps on both side would form an 'x' across his chest. He still wore a grey shirt underneath. His pants were light blue with a grey strap on each leg going diagonally across from the top to the middle and then straight down to his grey shoes with white and blue accents. He had a black belt with a silver crown embedded in a shield as the buckle across his waist. Nexam now wore light grey fingerless gloves with the crown and shield emblem at their center.

"Wow," he said as he glanced at his new outfit, quickly checking his side pockets to see if the ring was still there. Much to his relief it was, as was his necklace hanging from his neck. "Thanks!" The Blue Fairy smiled warmly.

"Hey dude, looking sharp!" Zell chipped in. Nexam grinned at him.

"Your new clothes have some unique abilities that you'll unlock as your journey along," the Blue Fairy added. Two yellow orbs appeared in her hand, one with a darker yellow orange in the center and the other with a lightning bolt. She handed him the first one. "You can now transform with one of your party members to enhance your abilities." Nexam nodded as she handed him the orb with the lightning bolt on it. He could feel the magic flowing through him. "That was a Thunder spell," the Blue Fairy continued, "it will come in handy during your quest."

"Thank you so much," Nexam replied kindly as he bowed politely.

"I'm just glad to help," the Blue Fairy answered.

"And you have helped us very much," Vincent added, thanking her for the information. "Come on, we need to tell the others what we just found out."

"Right on dude!" Zell said with enthusiasm.

"Please do not call me dude," Vincent replied as he walked out the door.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," Zell added following Vincent. "Nexam, c'mon, we gotta go."

"You bet," Nexam replied as he stepped outside the Blue Fairy's cottage.


	4. Final Arrangements

Final Arrangements

The White Witch stood before the group she had summoned in the audience hall of her palace of ice. To her minions and the residents of Narnia, she was to be addressed as Queen, thought it was far from the truth. She looked over the members of her council: Shere Khan, the cold, ruthless tiger from the jungle with his assistant the cowardly and hypnotizing python Kaa; the part spider, part crab monster Henry J. Waternoose and the second top scarer Randall, a snake like lizard; the technological and intelligent super with a large white S on his black costume Syndrome; the blue haired warlock in a red cloak who controls the Mystics, Magus; and the emperor clad in blue, black, red, and yellow with a yellow and red striped collar and a mad clown like face whose quest for power led to the destruction of his world, Kefka. This was certainly a fine group of individuals the White Witch had assembled for her cause. "I suppose you know why you're here," she said to get their attention.

"Not really," Magus answered coldly, "but I have the feeling you'll enlighten us anyway." Jadis glared at the powerful spell caster, but continued. Should he try her patience one more time, she would be more than kind to demonstrate her power.

"It seems that the fates have chosen a keyblade bearer for our side of the universe," the White Witch replied. As expected, the others were thrown into some dismay. Kefka smiled deviously at the notion. The White Witch held up her hand silencing the group. "However, that doesn't mean we can't do anything about it." She once again had their attention.

"What do you propose?" Waternoose asked, tapping his fingers together.

"A union," the White Witch answered. "Join me and I'll give you the power over the Heartless to stop this meddling child before anything can be done against us."

"The Heartless you say," Shere Khan replied, liking the sound of having minions at his disposal for man. Jadis smiled at their consideration of her plan, it was almost too easy to win them over.

"Ha, with my brains and weapons, and the Heartless at my side," Syndrome added, "nothing can stand in my way. And when I turn every super into a Heartless, the world will be mine!"

"Easy on the monologue pal," Randall replied dryly, definitely annoyed. Syndrome glared at him. Magus was getting fed up with the charade.

"What is it you want in return for this power?" he asked.

"I beg your pardon," the White Witch answered. An evil grin appeared on Magus' face, Kefka's as well. The Emperor liked the way the warlock thought.

"No one gives anyone power without expecting something in return," he replied. "You promise us control over the Heartless to smite our enemies, but what is it that you want from us?" Magus succeeded in turning the tide against the White Witch for the moment.

"Yeah, he does have a point," Syndrome added.

"Business at its finest," Waternoose replied.

"Why, only your loyalty to each member of this council," the White Witch answered. A nodding of heads signaled her success in regaining their favor. "I would come to your aide should a problem arise, I would hope you would come to mine in such a case."

"Can't argue with that," Kaa added.

"I'm only concerned with your best interests," the White Witch replied. "Together, we will be the most powerful force in the universe. I wouldn't want anything coming between that."

"We can trust each other, can't we?" Kefka asked. The group seemed to agree with him.

"It also helps to hold the proper type of leverage," Jadis added. She snapped her fingers and her dwarf minion cam, holding chains that imprisoned a boy about Nexam's age. He had blonde hair, a bit longer than Nexam's, but not too long, more roughed up than normal, thanks to his captors. The boy wore a black vest with red highlights and a red shirt underneath. He had black pants on, and his shoes were a combination of black and white. His blue eyes were barely open with the fatigue he was feeling. The boy was none other than Kev.

"And who exactly is the kid?" Syndrome asked.

"Why, one of the keyblade bearer's friends," the White Witch answered.

"You fool!" Magus shouted.

"How dare you insult me in my dominion you insignificant worm?" she asked angrily.

"Because you have brought about the destruction of this alliance," Magus answered. "You'll bring the keyblade bearer's wrath upon every member of this alliance not only because we control the Heartless, but you have one of his friends as a hostage."

"Quit being so dramatic," Kefka replied.

"Funny coming from the clown who sought to rule his world only to end up destroying it completely," Magus snapped back. He struck a nerve on Kefka, who covered it up by laughing. A fear of Kefka fell over the room. "One cannot rule over something that doesn't exist. If you should rethink your strategy, send someone to alert me. Better yet, don't find me, I'll find you." He turned around and began to walk away. "The black wind howls. You White Witch will surely perish," he added as he opened a portal and returned to his world.

"Anyone else have any objections?" Kefka asked.

"No, none at all," the other council members replied.

"Good, now leave to your own worlds until you are summoned once again," the White Witch said. "Let our strength prevail over the light." The council nodded in agreement and left to their home worlds. Jadis turned over to Kev. "You my boy will be a useful asset in the upcoming battle." Kev glared at her, pretty much all he could do considering his current situation. "Take him back to the dungeon; I'll deal with him later."

"Yes my Queen," the dwarf replied as he led Kev back to his prison.

"Kefka," the White Witch added, "go monitor our warlock friend and make sure he remains loyal to us."

"It will be done my Queen," Kefka replied, bowing before opening a portal and stepping in it. For now, he would play the trusted second in command role, but as soon as she outlived her usefulness, or what Magus said comes to pass, everything would belong to him. Patience would be the key for his plot to take form, especially since the White Witch had spies all around, hence her knowledge of Nexam.

**KH-KH-KH**

Terra and Edgar still waited at the Returners' base for Vincent, Zell, and Nexam to return from the Blue Fairy. Edgar tinkered with some of his inventions near the front, modifying his automatic crossbow to shoot faster and with more force and a drill to get past even the toughest armor or skin on a Heartless. And should these devices fail him, that being a rather large "if," there was always his trusty spear for such an emergency. Terra walked into his workshop carrying some food and tea on a tray. He looked up at her and then at the tray. "Just set mine down somewhere and I'll get to it. Just gotta finish a few more tweaks…" His attention was focused on his work, rather strange, though, he would always stop for a woman.

"All right then," Terra replied with a sigh, "Just don't work too hard." She set his food and tea on a nearby table and was about to leave the room when Edgar spoke up again.

"Say Terra," he said while finishing up the final touches to his project, "think I have enough charm to win anyone over?"

"That's kinda a weird question," Terra answered, puzzled at it herself. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm probably gonna need you guys to watch the shop for me on the weekend," Edgar replied as he got up from his work, looking satisfied at it and himself. "I managed to score a couple a dates with a few lovely ladies." His face was smug and proud. Terra seemed a bit agitated by his comment, though Edgar didn't realize it.

"Is that all you can ever think about?" Terra asked with some anger in her otherwise calm, gentle voice as she crossed her arms.

"Ladies and mechanics are my specialty," Edgar answered, "You know that. Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing except of all of our friends I could get stuck with, I end up with the pompous self absorbed so called 'lady's man'!" Terra replied rather angrily. "Of all the nerve!" She grabbed the closest thing on the table to her, a small wrench, and tossed it at Edgar's head before storming out of the shop. After the object hit him dead on, Edgar fell down in a daze as Terra slammed the front door behind her. As his now scrambled mind tried to piece together what had just happened, he realized he made a big mistake. Unfortunately for him, as he was trying to stand up to correct it, he tripped on a wire and fell down unconscious. Today was just not his day.

**KH-KH-KH**

Vincent, Zell, and Nexam walked out of the Blue Fairy's house and back into the Governor's Plaza, only to be greeted by a small group of Heartless. "Don't these things ever quit?" Nexam asked as he swung his keyblade at them.

"Don't think they know how," Zell answered as he punched a Shadow into the air, meeting it with his other fist a few seconds later.

"That's why you have the keyblade," Vincent added as he shot some of the remaining Heartless.

"Yeah, I know," Nexam replied as he slashed the last Shadow. That task complete, they resumed their run back to the Merchant Quarter, quickly disposing of any Heartless in their wake. The information they received from the Blue Fairy needed to be shared with Terra and Edgar, since they now had the Five Judges and their Nobodies to deal with besides the Heartless infestation that was already paining them.

**KH-KH-KH**

In the space above Tranquil Terrace, a gummi ship hovered overhead. Inside the cockpit were two passengers, Max, Goofy's son, and Gene, a duck that was once a genie but freed after an adventure with Donald's nephews Heuy, Dewey, and Louie. They were roughly about Nexam's age, give or take a few years and on a mission much like the court magician and captain of the guard from none other than King Mickey himself. The task was given to them in a letter.

_Dear Max and Gene,_

_Sorry to put this burden on ya, but we don't have much of a choice. Things are getting pretty hectic with the Heartless and Organization XIII over here, and over on the other side too. You two need to get on a gummi ship right away and find the keyblade bearer on that side of the universe and preserve the world order. Take care and good luck to ya._

_Your friend,_

_King Mickey_

However, standing in between the two adventurers and the quest would be landing the gummi ship safely. "Do you know what you're doing?" Gene asked.

"Sorta," Max answered, messing around with some of the controls. Gene looked down and then at the approaching world.

"Please don't crash," he continued, "we really do need to make it out alive and in one piece."

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Max replied. Gene somehow doubted that, but went along with it anyway. "Here we go!" Max added as he took the ship in for a landing. He may have lacked their experience Goofy had, but that didn't stop him from enjoying himself as they descended to Tranquil Terrace.

**KH-KH-KH**

After defeating any Heartless that spawned in front of them, Vincent, Zell, and Nexam finally made it back to the Merchant Quarter. Quickly they entered their base. "Hey Terra and Edgar," Zell shouted as they walked in, "we got some info you outta hear." To their surprise, no one answered. Vincent started to search the shop portion of the building when he came across a conked out Edgar.

"What the hell happened?" he asked as he woke up Edgar. The mechanic rubbed the sore spot on his head.

"Vincent, Zell, Nexam, welcome back," he said as he began to stand.

"Hey, where's Terra?" Zell asked.

"Huh?" Edgar answered with confusion. Some of the events were still a bit blurry to him.

"What did you do this time?" Vincent asked with a great deal of irritancy. Nexam looked as puzzled as Edgar.

"I think I said something that made her mad," Edgar answered. "Yeah, I think that's what happened." He looked down at the wrench on the floor and his memory was jogged. "She threw a wrench at my head and knocked me out!"

"You lost her?" Vincent asked with a combination of anger and concern. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"The Turks!" Edgar shouted as he caught on to Vincent's drift. Ever since the two of them arrived here, Shin-Ra has shown a great deal of interest in Terra. Edgar grabbed his automatic crossbow and spear and darted out the door with Vincent close behind.

"Stay here," he ordered as he left the building. Nexam and Zell stood dumfounded without any time to respond.

"Zell," Nexam said, "Can you make heads or tails out of this?"

"Sorta," Zell answered, "I'm not sure, but I think Terra kinda likes Edgar or something." Nexam nodded along. "But, if you haven't noticed, Edgar's kinda a ladies man or something along that line in his mind. I guess he ticked her off big time. Terra really doesn't get mad."

"I hope I never turn out like that," Nexam replied as he sat down in a nearby chair. He noticed the food and tea and took some, giving Zell the other serving.

"Nah, don't sweat it," Zell added between bites, "she's just probably blowing off steam."

"I guess you're right," Nexam replied as he thought about it. "But what about what the Turks?"

"Oh that, right," Zell answered. "Vincent's not the only one who can transform, but from what we got out of him, some guy named Hojo did that to him. Terra's half Esper."

"Esper?" Nexam asked.

"Yeah, back on their world, they were powerful magical beings," Zell answered still eating and drinking. "So she can transform into an Esper when she wants to."

"That's why they want her so bad," Nexam replied understanding the situation. Still he was concerned for his friend.

"Vincent and Edgar will find here in no time man, just relax," Zell added. That was easier said than done for Nexam. His mind worried for his friends here and for Lenne and Kev. He shuddered at any thought of something bad happening to them, trying his best to remain composed. "Hey, you all right man?"

"Oh, I'm just thinking about my friends," Nexam answered, "don't worry, I'm fine."

"Whatever you say dude," Zell replied finishing off his food. "Hey, you gonna eat that?" Nexam shrugged and handed the hungry teen some of his food. All that grub had to be for his metabolism or something.

**KH-KH-KH**

Terra walked around the semi-peaceful Merchant Quarter. She needed to clear her head, especially with that outburst at Edgar. Should anything happen, she had her sword strapped to her side. "Maybe I was a little hard on Edgar," she said softly to herself as she walked about. "He did ask for it though, the nerve of him…" Terra stopped when she saw two strange characters walk into the district, a humanoid dog and duck.

**KH-KH-KH**

Vincent and Edgar swept through the city in search of Terra, with Edgar looking frantically for her. It was partially, if not all his fault, and there was no chance in Hell that he'd let the Turks get to her. Incidentally, this happened to be one of his favorite scenarios, the damsel in distress, though Terra could handle herself if need be. Vincent gazed from the roof tops like an eagle in the sky hunting its prey. When his eyes caught sight of her, he jumped from the roof to bring her back safely. On the ground, Edgar saw Vincent and ran in his direction.

**KH-KH-KH**

The knight in training Max, and wizard in training Gene wondered through Tranquil Terrace in search of the keyblade bearer. "Max, you sure this is the best way of finding the keyblade bearer?" Gene asked.

"Don't know," Max answered as they passed by some merchants, "but it beats sitting around and waiting."

"And that wouldn't work?" Gene asked.

"Yeah, because the keyblade dude probably doesn't even know we're looking for him," Max answered, satisfied with being correct.

"All right, let's ask her," Gene replied pointing at Terra, who was walking towards them. "Excuse me Miss," he continued.

"Can I help you with something?" Terra asked gently.

"Hopefully," Max answered, "uh, you wouldn't have happened to notice someone running around here with a keyblade, would you?" Terra's face lit up with the mention of the keyblade. She took another look at the humanoid dog and duck, realizing there was no way they worked for Shin-Ra. Still, it was a bit suspicious.

"You see," Gene continued for Max, "we really need to find this person, world order and stuff." Terra nodded her head. At this point, Vincent and Edgar arrived on the scene. Terra turned around and faced them; recapping what had just happening, while glaring at Edgar slightly. Vincent nodded.

"We'll take you to him," he added, motioning for Max and Gene to follow him. They nodded and followed Vincent to the Returners' base.

"Terra," Edgar said while they were walking.

"Yes?" Terra asked, wondering what he could be up to.

"Uh," he replied, trying to find the right words to make amends, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Terra was surprised by his quick apology. It wasn't that she didn't want to hear it, but the fact that Edgar felt guilty about what he said.

"I'm sorry too," Terra added. They gazed into each other's eyes. The moment would have lasted longer had Vincent not spoke up.

"Ahem," he said, "I hate to interrupt, but we need to hurry. Who knows what Zell could be up too and we need to discuss the new information we obtained." Edgar and Terra smiled briefly and followed Vincent, Max, and Gene.

**KH-KH-KH**

"Man I hate getting left behind," Zell groaned as he looked for something to entertain himself with. Seeing nothing, he walked into his room and started punching the punching bag hanging from the ceiling. Nexam leaned against a part of the wall that was a safe distance away from the brawler.

"They didn't want to loose anyone else," Nexam replied "at least, that's my guess."

"Still dull as hell," Zell added. Nexam nodded. They then heard the door open and walked towards the front.

"You made it, welcome back," Nexam said. He looked at Terra then at Edgar. Whatever happened was in the past now, and he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Hey, who are those guys?" Zell asked pointing at Max and Gene.

"The other reason we're here," Vincent answered.

"Well, I'm Max and this is my pal Gene," Max replied.

"We're here because King Mickey told us to look for you," Gene added. "We're supposed to go with the keyblade bearer and stop the Heartless." On cue, Nexam summoned Knight's Oath into his hand. Max and Gene stared at it and nodded.

"Now, what else did you find out?" Edgar asked.

"To expand on what Max and Gene said," Vincent answered, "Nexam and his keyblade have the power to release the captive hearts held by the Heartless and seal the worlds from them."

"That's a heavy burden for someone so young," Terra added. Nexam gave a nod as he thought the same thing.

"We also have a new enemy on our hands," Vincent continued, "the Five Judges and their Nobodies. We don't know what they're after, but they want Nexam and the keyblade."

"Yeah, we ran into one of their goons and his Nobodies," Zell added.

"They're stronger than the Heartless we've seen here," Nexam replied. "I'm putting you guys in danger just by being here, and I'm sorry for that."

"Dude, don't sweat it," Zell added. "It's not like we can't handle ourselves."

"And even if you weren't here, they'd probably come looking anyway," Terra replied.

"Thanks guys," Nexam said with a small grin.

"No, thank you," Vincent replied. Nexam looked at him befuddled. "Now that you've come, we can finally be rid of the Heartless."

"You're a symbol of hope," Edgar added.

"Just don't loose sight of what's here," Terra replied pointing at his heart.

"But what about my friends?" Nexam asked. "I have to find them."

"I'm sure we'll run into them somewhere," Max answered.

"Yeah, we will," Nexam replied. "I don't know how, but I just know it."

"Well, our gummi ship isn't too far from here," Max added, "so we can get going whenever you're ready dude."

"One problem," Gene interrupted, "I think you damaged it a bit when we landed." Max chuckled as he put his hand behind his head.

"That's where we come in," Edgar replied grabbing Zell and placing him right beside him. "We're mechanics, so we can tend to it in no time." Zell grinned with excitement. "Just bring it by the shop in the back."

"Ok then," Gene added, "but I'm driving this time."

"Fine," Max replied as they left to bring the gummi ship. Nexam walked over to the couch and took a long needed nap. He had a lot of information to take in and needed some rest after the day's trails. Considering how much of a wreck his mind was, though he hid it from the others fairly well, Nexam received a well deserved good night's sleep. When he woke up sometime the next morning, he was greeted by Zell, who had to resist throwing a bucket of cold water on him, and by resist, Vincent had threatened him.

"Yo dude, you're finally up," Zell said as Nexam came to. He hated the feeling he had waking up in the morning, taking a few minutes to register everything. "Uh, you ok?"

"Yeah," Nexam answered as he came to, "it just takes a bit for me to fully wake up."

"Well hurry up, everyone's waiting on ya!" Zell ran to the back where the gummi ship was repaired. Nexam stood up, grabbed anything that might have fallen out of his pockets, and followed Zell. By the ship stood a proud Edgar as Max and Gene gazed in awe.

"What do you think?" Edgar asked.

"Whoa, dude!" Max answered as he checked the ship out.

"Made a few improvements," Edgar added, "Zell and I updated the navigation system weapons, and communication. You should be able to handle anything that gets thrown at you."

"Thanks," Gene replied.

"Ah it's nothing really," Zell added. "Oh ya, Sleeping Beauty here finally came to."

"Sleeping Beauty?" Vincent asked. "Couldn't you come up with something better?"

"Short notice," Zell answered. Nexam shook his head.

"Right…," he added, "anyway what's up?"

"It's about time you three headed off," Terra answered.

"Guess it is then," Nexam replied. "I know I said it before, but thanks for everything guys. I really do appreciate it."

"It was the least we could do," Edgar added, "but if you want to keep praising, feel free." Terra glanced at him. "Or not."

"Nexam, you ready?" Gene asked.

"You bet," Nexam answered as he followed Max and Gene into the ship. He turned around. "Take care."

"You too man," Zell replied.

"Come back and see us sometime," Terra added.

"Will do," Nexam replied as he saluted with two fingers on his right hand.

"Go get 'em," Vincent added as Nexam boarded the gummi ship. With Max piloting, much to Gene's objection, the ship rose and left the hanger. Once it was out, it flew into the sky above, leaving Tranquil Terrace behind.


	5. Bare Necessities

Bare Necessities

The view of the stars from the inside of the gummi ship left Nexam in awe. He had always admired the stars and wondered what secrets they held. Now that he knew there were other worlds out there besides his own, he couldn't help feeling a little anxious to reach their next destination, but that would be the underlying reason. His main focuses were finding Lenne and Kev, and the Heartless and Nobodies. Nexam looked away from the window at Max and Gene. Max seemed to have the ship's controls down pretty well, but then again, he was new this thing. Gene kept a watchful eye on the monitors and radar, just to be sure of things. "So, where are we heading?" Nexam asked.

"Wherever the nearest world is," Max answered, "so you can just relax for a bit. Hey Gene, anything popping up?"

"Nope," Gene replied, "we're clear..." He noticed another dot on the radar. Nexam looked through the window and saw something fly by.

"We've got company," he added.

"And a big group by the looks of it," Gene replied as more dots appeared on radar.

"Looks like we'll be seeing some action after all," Max added as he switched to the weapons station and Gene took over piloting.

"Nexam, take over the radar." Gene replied as he focused on evading the Heartless ships. Nexam nodded and manned the monitors.

_Great, I'm thrown into something that I have abso-freaking-lutely no clue on. Wait a second; I know that these panels are for, but how?_ He looked at the information on the panels on the ship's energy, status, and other things Nexam couldn't explain how he knew, but he did, if and as along as it helps, he wouldn't question it for now.

"Just tell us where the enemy is and keep an eye on the status," Gene said confusing Nexam's inexperience with traveling via gummi ship with deja vu.

"You got it!" Nexam replied with more confidence in himself. That faded somewhat once he took another look at the radar. "We're surrounded!" Max and Gene looked at each other and nodded.

"I'll take care of that," Max added as he began to fire the turrets. Had Nexam not been preoccupied with the monitors, he would have enjoyed this moment had he been watching a movie, but as it was, survival was stake. Gene did his best to dodge most enemy fire, but he had to make sure Max could clear a path. The numbers of the Heartless vessels were dwindling, until reinforcements arrived.

"We've got too many ships on us," Nexam reported.

"I can't shake 'em!" Gene replied. "They're too fast!"

"I'm doing my best, but they just keep coming," Max added as he continued to fire through their ranks. The ship suddenly shook violently. All the alarms began to go off.

"We've been hit!" Nexam stated as he looked at the ships status. Things weren't looking good. _Dammit! _Fortunately, a world came within sight.

"Hold on!" Gene replied as he took the ship in for a crash landing into the new world. As the crew grew closer to the ground, nothing but tropical trees and plants could be seen, along with some ruins in the distance. The trio prepared for the worst.

**KH-KH-KH**

Unknown to them, a mysterious figure clad in strange silver armor and a black cape was watching them. With the powerful magic at his disposal, he helped guide the ship safely into a small grove. He snapped his fingers and some spare gummi parts appeared in the air above him. The man extended his arm out and they flew about the world. His task now complete, he vanished as quickly as he had arrived.

**KH-KH-KH**

Nexam, Max, and Gene stared flabbergasted at each other as they landed in one piece. All in all, the ship took some damage, but nothing that wasn't beyond repairing. "Everyone ok?" Nexam asked.

"Just ruffed up a bit," Max answered.

"Yeah, we're good," Gene added, "what about the ship?" Nexam took a look at the monitors.

"I'm guessing the ship's seen better days," he replied. "The damage doesn't look to bad, so we can probably repair it."

"One problem," Gene pointed out, "we're short on spare gummi parts."

"Maybe we could send Edgar a call," Max added.

"Already tried," Nexam replied, "communications are busted. We're on our own now."

"Might as well go exploring," Max added, looking forward to an adventure. Gene pulled out his staff and pointed it at each person, surrounding them with a white light.

"This will come in handy," he replied, "now we'll fit in with this world or any world."

"Sweet," Max added enthusiastically. Nexam nodded.

"However," Gene continued, "there's one quick thing we need to go over: the world order." Nexam looked at him perplexed. "No matter what happens, we have to do our best to interfere as little as possible with the events here. We also can't let anyone know we're from another world. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before," Max answered.

"Loud and clear," Nexam replied as he wondered how the world order sounded vaguely familiar to him. He opened the hatch door and they stepped outside. Once they stepped outside, they noticed Gene's magic had worked. Nexam was a medium height bluish gray bear, with part of his hair do on his head. Max grew shorter as he became a reddish orange monkey with the same face he had normally and his floppy ears. Gene's transformation was to a smaller degree than Max and Nexam's, he turned into a tropical bird with light blue feathers and his duck bill.

"Cool, I'm a monkey!" Max said as he looked at his new form. "A tail, sweet, I'm gonna have fun with this!"

"A bear," Nexam replied as he admired Gene's handiwork. "Now this is something. Nice work Gene."

"Now remember what I said," Gene added as he hovered around Max and Nexam. "Hmm, gonna have to get used to flying."

"Yeah, we heard ya the first time," Max replied. "Now let's go and check this place out."

"And find spare gummi parts," Gene added. They began to make their way out of the grove and deeper into the jungle. So far, nothing seemed to be amiss. The place was a jungle paradise, so seemingly tranquil. That all changed a few moments later when the trio saw a small group of Heartless run chase a young boy in nothing but red briefs. "Was that a group of…?"

"Heartless!" Max continued.

"Let's go help him!" Nexam suggested as they began to chase the intruders. The group found themselves in a small circular area completely enclosed by trees, except for the path they ran on to get there. The young boy was cornered by the Heartless squad that consisted off four brown and black monkey Heartless known as Wild Prime, two large grey and black panthers, Predators , and three green and brown snakes called Constricts. Of course, they all had the signature yellow eyes of the Heartless, plus the emblem on their chests or backs. Still, the kid had a mischievous grin on his face, even though he was outnumbered. Quickly, Gene pulled out his staff, Max his shield, and Nexam summoned his keyblade into his paw as they charged at the Heartless to help even the odds.

Max bashed his shield into the head of a Wild Prime, stunning it momentarily. He seized the opportunity of the Heartless being incapacitated and jumped over it. While in midair, the chunked his shield at its neck, then flipped in the air and slammed the Heartless with his tail while grabbing his shield as it vanished. Gene approached two of the Wild Primes, holding his staff in his feet. He pointed it at them and yelled _Thunder!_ Bam, a small cluster of lighting bolts came from the sky striking them. Nexam quickly charged in and slashed at them with his keyblade, finishing them off, and throwing some unexpected Heartless into the air. Max jumped and smashed the closest ones to him with his shield, while using his tail to swing around while Gene cast a Blizzard spell on the ones Max didn't get a chance to hit.

The boy had his dukes up and punched one of the Predators right under its snout. While he was occupied with this, a Constrict slithered closer to the kid and lunged at him with its white fangs out. The boy saw this with just moments to spare and jumped onto the Predator's back. Moving quicker than anticipated, the Constrict had no time to redirect its attack and latched onto the Predator's snout. If this wasn't humorous enough for the heroes, the boy wrapped the Constrict around the Predator's snout, using what was left over as reins. He hopped onto its back and began to plow through the remaining Heartless with his interesting combination.

The Heartless that Max, Gene, and Nexam were fighting proved to be much stronger than the group had anticipated, and they were taking some heavy hits. _Cure! _They suddenly felt some of their strength restored, but it was used in fending off the attacking Predator and Constricts, until the other Predator came charging in, throwing the other Heartless into the air. Gene wasted no time and cast a Blizzard spell as Max threw his shield at the Predator and Constricts temporarily suspended in mid air. With those gone, the one the boy was riding was the only one left. The boy jumped as Nexam swung his keyblade at. Quickly, he moved it under the Heartless and pushed up with all his might, sending it airborne. Nexam jumped up and slashed at the Heartless as Max jumped off his back and bashed its head with his shield. _Blizzard!_ The well time spell hit its mark, making the Heartless vanish.

"Cure!" Gene shouted as the spell restored the party and the boy their strength.

"Thanks guys," the boy said.

"Uh sure, you're welcome," Nexam replied, not really used to the situation.

"Those were some pretty sweet moves," Max added cheeringly.

"Yeah, well I learned from the best," the boy replied. "You guys aren't too bad yourselves, fighting whatever those things were."

"Heartless," Gene added. "I'm Gene."

"Max," Max replied.

"And I'm Nexam," Nexam added.

"Mowgli," Mowgli replied, "and you say those things are called Heartless?" They nodded. Gene looked around and saw a gummi block in the brush. Quickly, he grabbed it and flew back to the group.

"Say, you wouldn't know where we could find more of these?" Gene asked as he showed Mowgli the gummi block.

"Hmm…well I don't," Mowgli answered as he studied the gummi part, "but I know someone who might. C'mon." He ran up ahead and motioned for them to follow. They shrugged their heads and followed Mowgli through the jungle. As the group left, the Indian python Kaa emerged from his hiding place in the branches of a nearby tree.

"So the man cub is in league with the keyblade kid," Kaa hissed as he slithered after the heroes. "Just you wait until I get you all in my coils."

**KH-KH-KH**

A short while later and after any nearby Heartless were properly disposed of, Mowgli, Nexam, Max, and Gene arrived at the riverside. Surrounding them were rocks, trees and plants with fruit, and a small waterfall. The sound of running water was soothing, along with some of the wildlife. Nexam truly felt relaxed, even Gene seemed to take in some of the stress-free attitude the environment brought. Max's hyper and energetic nature calmed down as well. They continued to follow Mowgli as he led them to the center of the area. "Papa Bear! Bagheera!" he shouted. No response. "Hello, anyone here?" Still no response. "Hmm."

"Something up?" Nexam asked.

"I can't seem to find anyone," Mowgli answered. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a grey blur. "Wait, I think we found him." The others looked at him slightly confused, but waited to see what would happen. The grey blur started to move in a bizarre pattern, almost as if it was moving to a beat. As it got closer, they noticed that it was a bear, like Nexam except taller, and he was singing. Mowgli motioned them to stay put and quiet, so they wouldn't disrupt anything.

_Look for the bare necessities_

_The simple bare necessities_

_Forget about your worries and your strife_

_I mean the bare necessities_

_Old Mother Nature's recipes_

_That brings the bare necessities of life_

_Wherever I wander, wherever I roam_

_I couldn't be fonder of my big home_

_The bees are buzzin' in the tree_

_To make some honey just for me_

_When you look under the rocks and plants_

_And take a glance at the fancy ants_

_Then maybe try a few_

"He eats ants?" Max asked as the bear licked up a few ants from under a rock. Nexam shrugged his shoulders, and Gene moved his wings in a similar fashion.

"It is a catchy beat though," Nexam replied as he started to move along with it, as did Max. Gene eventually followed through, not wanting to be left out, and not wanting to resist the jamming jungle groove.

_The bare necessities of life will come to you_

_They'll come to you!_

_Look for the bare necessities_

_The simple bare necessities_

_Forget about your worries and your strife_

_I mean the bare necessities _

_That's why a bear can rest at ease_

_With just the bare necessities of life_

Max noticed some fruit nearby which just happened to be a prickly pear. Instinctively, he reached for it, only to be pricked by the needles. "Yeouch!" he yelled out in pain, not to loudly though.

_Now when you pick a pawpaw_

_Or a prickly pear_

_And you prick a raw paw_

_Next time beware_

_Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw_

_When you pick a pear_

_Try to use the claw_

The bear threw the fruit onto the pile he was gathering. After Nexam saw how he picked it, he followed in the bear's example and used his claws to grab four prickly pears, one for each of them.

_But you don't need to use the claw_

_When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw_

_Have I given you a clue?_

_The bare necessities of life will come to you_

_They'll come to you!_

"Papa Bear!" Mowgli cheered as he ran towards the bear.

"Hey there Little Britches," the bear replied as he picked up Mowgli with arm and set him on his shoulders while still holding the fruits he gathered. "And who are these guys?"

"That's Nexam, Gene, and Max," Mowgli answered. Nexam waved. "And this is Papa Bear."

"You guys can call me Baloo," Baloo replied as he divided them amongst the group.

"Hey, thanks!" Nexam added. "Nice beat you had going there by the way."

"Thanks kiddo," Baloo replied.

"Oh yeah, these guys helped me fight some of those weird animals that have been attacking the jungle," Mowgli added. "They call them the Heartless."

"Really," Baloo replied thoughtfully, "well, I guess I owe you one for helping Mowgli out there."

"Aw, it was nothing really," Max added, "we're used to this."

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know anything else about those Heartless, would ya?" Baloo asked.

"Someone here's commanding them," Gene answered, "at least that's my guess." He looked up and saw a panther in a tree shaking his head. "Why is that panther shaking its head?"

"Huh, oh that's just ol' Bagheera," Baloo answered. "Hey come on down!" Reluctantly, the panther complied and jumped out of the tree.

"Baloo, you stupid, shiftless jungle bum, what have you gotten into now?" Bagheera asked in a manner that was slightly condescending, yet still concerned.

"Just thought I'd share some information with you," Baloo answered as he pointed towards Nexam, Max, and Gene. "And I think you might be able to help us figure something out."

"Fine," Bagheera replied as he looked at the group. "You three must be new to this part of the jungle, yet you know of those strange things that keep attacking us."

"Yeah, we're not from around here," Max answered. Gene looked at him, hoping he wouldn't break the world order. "We're from a different part of the jungle, but we still have to deal with those things."

"Would you know if anything else is going on here?" Gene asked.

"Shere Khan the tiger has returned to our part of the jungle," Bagheera answered. "And if it wasn't enough just dealing with him, we now have those, Heartless did you call them?" Nexam nodded. "The jungle isn't safe anymore."

"Maybe we can help," Nexam suggested as he got a glance from Gene. "We fought some of the Heartless here not too long ago with Mowgli's help."

"Yeah, I knocked their roof in!" Mowgli added proudly.

"Fighting like a bear, just like I taught you," Baloo replied as he gave Mowgli a high five. Bagheera just shook his head.

"Anyway," Gene said, hoping to get along as quickly as possible with their quest, "would you happen to know where we can find something like this?" He pulled out the gummi block. Bagheera recognized it for what is was, but said nothing that would blow their cover.

"I think King Louie might have something like that," Baloo replied.

"King Louie?" Max asked.

"The King of the Swingers as he likes to call himself," Bagheera answered. "You guys really aren't from this part of the jungle."

"Yep," Max replied. He then noticed that Bagheera and Baloo were starring at him intently. "Uh guys, something you wanna tell me?"

"Don't ask me," Gene added. "We're new here, remember?"

"Heheh…," Max replied nervously.

"It's just that you're a monkey," Baloo answered.

"And King Louie is very particular about his guests," Bagheera continued for Baloo, "mainly since he rules over the other monkeys."

"So you want us to use Max to find it?" Nexam asked.

"Yes," Bagheera answered, "that should work, now come on, we don't have all day." Bagheera was about to lead them when Baloo set Mowgli down and jumped into the river, going down the small waterfall and landing on his back. Mowgli followed Baloo's example and jumped through the trees and landed on the bear's stomach as they floated down river.

"Baloo, ah never mind," Bagheera replied as he jumped into the trees to keep up with the bear and man cub.

"Say Nexam," Max added. "How are we going to get there?"

"The fastest way would be by the river…," Nexam replied while in thought.

"You guys go ahead, I'll just keep up with Bagheera," Gene added as he flew into the trees to follow the panther. They shrugged their shoulders.

"Works for me," Max replied as Nexam jumped into the river like Baloo had moments earlier, with Max landing on his stomach shortly afterwards as they journeyed down the river's current as Baloo continued to sing.

_So just try and relax, yeah cool it_

_Fall apart in my backyard_

_'Cause let me tell you something little britches_

_If you act like that bee acts, uh uh_

_You're working too hard_

_And don't spend your time lookin' around_

_For something you want that can't be found_

_When you find out you can live without it_

_And go along not thinkin' about it_

_I'll tell you something true_

_The bare necessities of life will come to you_

Nexam and Max listened to Baloo's song as they floated down the river not too far behind from him and Mowgli while Bagheera and Gene heard it from up in the trees. In fact, they weren't the only ones who heard it. Kaa who had been keeping a watchful eye on the group looked from one of the branches he so carefully rested on began to move away towards Shere Khan when Bagheera accidentally ran over him. With a thud, the python hit the ground. "Ow, this is going to slow down my s-s-s-slithering," Kaa said as he slowly moved along, not wanting to strain his long back too much.

In another tree not too far away, three monkeys from King Louie's place listened to the song, and remembered that Louie had been looking for some new talent. With their eyes set on the man cub and Max, they quietly pursued the group in the trees, just waiting for the opportune moment to snatch them up and bring them to the King of Swingers unexpectedly and soon.


	6. The Jungle is Jumpin'

The Jungle is Jumpin'

Baloo, Mowgli, Nexam, and Max had been floating down the river for a short time now while Bagheera and Gene kept up in the nearby trees. Gene also happened to notice how uncomfortable Bagheera was with the idea of going to see King Louie. "Hey, Bagheera," he said. "What do you know about this King Louie character we're off to?"

"Let's put it this way," Bagheera answered, "if you thought Baloo was the biggest party animal here, you haven't seen anything yet." Gene nodded as he put things into perspective.

"If that's the case, then I really do worry for Max," he added, knowing that Max would not be able to resist fully enjoying himself. His worries about his friend were not ill placed, for the moment for them to be fully appreciated came. Out of the lower branches of the trees by the riverbed popped out a small group of monkeys straight from King Louie's place. Quickly and silently, they descended upon the unsuspecting group, grabbing Max and Mowgli.

"Wha- hey, put me down!" Mowgli ordered the monkeys as he frantically moved about. They seemed to be enjoying the situation and laughed in response. "Baloo, help!"

"Hang on Little Britches!" Baloo replied as he stood up and tried to grab Mowgli back from the monkeys.

"Guys, help!" Max shouted as he was taken up.

"Max!" Nexam replied as he got up and summoned his keyblade. "Here, grab my keyblade!" Max's fingers stretched as far as they could but he was still short on distance. An idea struck him as he moved his tail towards it. Max almost had a grip when the monkeys pulled him up, along with Mowgli into the trees, swinging on the vines straight to King Louie.

"What's going on?" Bagheera asked as he jumped down from the trees with Gene right behind him to see the two shocked bears. He looked about and the man cub was no where to be found. "Where's Mowgli?"

"Where's Max for that matter?" Gene added as he looked for his friend.

"They were taken by monkeys," Nexam added as he lowered his head and stared at his reflection. _You can't save any of your friends; all you ever do is lead them into harm's way. _He swatted his paw at the water, distorting the image with ripples.

"King Louie's monkeys," Baloo replied, "they came from the trees and took them up with them."

"Great and I thought we had enough to deal with already!" Gene added slightly enraged and definitely irritated. "And now this, well, it just tops things off nicely!" He took a deep breath and calmed down. Bagheera's eyes finally gazed upon Nexam's keyblade, Knights Oath, which he still held in his hand. The pieces finally began to fall in place, though he could not risk discussing the true nature of their appearance with Baloo around.

"Baloo, you said King Louie's monkeys did this, right?" Bagheera asked.

"Yeah," Baloo answered, not entirely seeing the point the panther was trying to make.

"And strangely enough that's where we're heading," Bagheera continued, "and with more motivation now..."

"Wait a minute," Nexam interrupted, "are you saying that we're blindly walking into a trap?" Baloo was surprised at the statement, Gene not as much.

"Maybe so," Bagheera answered, "though we can't afford to waste anymore time, we need to get going, now. Just be on your guard." Nexam nodded.

"Right," he added as he and Gene followed Baloo and Bagheera to the ruins where King Louie resided.

**KH-KH-KH**

Kaa slithered around the jungle rather peacefully until his eyes gazed upon the mighty tiger Shere Khan. Sure, they were allies at this point, both loathing the man cub Mowgli, and manipulating the Heartless to do their bidding, but that still didn't make him trust the tiger any more. "Shere Khan, what a surprise to see you," he said calmly, "in fact, I was heading your way."

"Really now," the tiger replied smugly, "and what would bring you there?"

"Oh, just some information about the man cub," Kaa answered, carefully watching for his own back. Shere Khan seemed somewhat surprised, somewhat that is, though he did not display it.

"Do go on," he urged the snake.

"Well, it seems that he is working with the keyblade bearer…" Kaa continued. Before he could say anymore, the tiger had placed his paw on top of the python's head, bringing it to the ground.

"The keyblade bearer," Shere Khan replied, "please do continue, though you will have to explain why you failed to bring them to me."

"They are strong like the White Witch warned," the python answered, trying to hide his cowardice. Shere Khan extended one claw and began toying with Kaa's nostril. "He also travels with two weird allies, besides Baloo and Bagheera. They're off to see King Louie now."

"And tell me why is it that you came to inform me rather than go after them?" Shere Khan asked, still plucking at the snake.

"I was getting to that," Kaa answered, gulping. "I just thought it would be nice to let you know what's going on." The tiger was not amused.

"Very well," Shere Khan replied arrogantly, "now go and bring the man cub to me, I'll need him as bait to lure the keyblade bearer out."

"And what about the others?" Kaa asked nervously.

"Let the Heartless deal with them," Shere Khan answered as he removed his paw from the python's head. Kaa quickly slithered away to do as the tiger had ordered. He was Shere Khan after all, and you didn't want to be on his bad side. As the snake left, the tiger smiled smugly at the thought of defeating two of his greatest enemies with one simple strike.

**KH-KH-KH**

The rescue group consisting of Nexam, Gene, Baloo, and Bagheera was closing in to their destination. They moved as fast as they possibly could, though it did not stop the group of Wild Prime and Predator Heartless from trying to ambush them from the surrounding trees. After summoning his keyblade, Nexam brought it straight down on a Predator's head, then quickly moved it up diagonally to the right, and then diagonally down and to the left. Baloo tackled the other Predator as he rammed his shoulder into it, sending the Heartless back and into two of the Wild Primes. The small batch flew into the nearest tree, stunned until fruit fell down and smashed them into oblivion. Bagheera stalked a small group of Wild Primes, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Once it came, the panther pounced on them, becoming a black blur of claws and teeth. Gene repeatedly cast Thunder and Blizzard on the Heartless, alternating between the two.

After a few mighty swings of Knight's Oath, Nexam caught a glimpse of what Baloo had done with the Heartless. "Baloo, I think we need to show them what the Bare Necessities are all about!"

"You got it Nexam!" Baloo replied with a large grin. He gave an uppercut to any Heartless in his way as he approached a tree, tossing at least one Wild Prime into it. As the stunned Heartless sat with its head spinning, Baloo caught the fruit that fell from the tree. He slammed his back into another, causing more fruit to fall, and more Heartless to be stunned. Once he had enough fruit, Baloo began to toss them individually at the Wild Primes and Predators. Some he would toss to Nexam who swung his keyblade like a baseball bat, sending the fruit flying at the nearest Heartless. As Baloo began to chunk the larger fruits, Nexam extended his left arm. _Thunder!_ The electrified fruit exploded upon impact. Once Baloo ran out of fruit, he grabbed Nexam and put him on his back as he charged at the remaining Heartless with Nexam fighting them like a knight on horseback. With this daring maneuver complete, only two Wild Primes remained, which were taken care of by Bagheera.

"Now that's fighting like a bear," Baloo said triumphantly.

"Heh, you're not so bad yourself," Gene replied.

"I'd say we showed them what the Bare Necessities were all about," Nexam added as he and Baloo joined in a high five.

"Ya man," Baloo replied.

"I hate to interrupt this victory moment," Bagheera added in a polite interrupting manner, "but we still need to rescue Max and Mowgli from the ancient ruins and King Louie."

"Yeah," Nexam replied, "I know."

"Good, now let's be on our way then," Bagheera added as they resumed their journey. "I'd hate to see what'll happen when they meet that king of theirs." The group hadn't been running for a while when the panther spoke up again. "Nexam, might I have a word with you?" Nexam looked over at Gene who gave a reassuring nod of his head. The keyblade bearer waited for Bagheera to approach and walked in stride beside him.

"What is the nature of your visit here keyblade bearer?" the panther asked him. Nexam looked upon him in awe. This was the first time a resident of this world knew who he truly was, let alone the name of his weapon.

"How do you know about this?" Nexam asked with great interest.

"You could say that I've heard many interesting things in my life," Bagheera answered, "but to suit the answer you're looking for, I am what you would call a World Guardian, trusted to uphold the world order."

"I see," Nexam replied, "makes sense after all. I guess I owe you some answers myself."

"That would be nice," Bagheera added, "I know it has something to do with the gummi block you and your allies displayed." Nexam raised an eyebrow in surprise, but quickly dismissed it; the panther was this world's guardian after all. He probably knew even more than he admitted at the moment.

"Yeah," Nexam replied after snapping out of his brief moment of thought and back into reality. "We had some difficulties getting here and need to repair our ship." Bagheera nodded along. "Say, mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead," Bagheera answered.

"Before you saw my keyblade, you knew that Max, Gene, and I didn't belong here, how?" Nexam asked.

"For one, you three look slightly different from everyone else here," Bagheera answered, "and especially in your case, your smell doesn't truly match your appearance, man cub." Nexam couldn't hide his surprise after hearing this. "Which reminds me, I have a favor I need to ask of you," the panther continued.

"Well, sure, I'll do all I can to help," Nexam answered, just as Bagheera hoped he would.

"Since you are a man cub like Mowgli," Bagheera replied, "perhaps you can help convince him that the man village would be the safest place for him."

"I can't make any promises," Nexam added, "he has to decide on his own, I can't force him, nor can any of us." The panther respected the keyblade bearer's wise answer. "Why isn't it exactly safe for Mowgli, I know you mentioned Shere Khan…,"

"That's precisely why," Bagheera answered, not meaning to interrupt. "Shere Khan the tiger has returned and wishes to kill him." Nexam understood the panther's concern now, more than ever. He knew deep down, he try to do the same for his friends. He would rather face all the perils of the universe then see them in harm's way.

"I understand what you're saying," Nexam replied, "and I'll do my best."

"Good," the panther added, "now, let's not mention this to Baloo, world order and all." Nexam nodded as they ran to keep up with the bear and Gene.

**KH-KH-KH**

After swinging through numerous trees and vines, Mowgli and Max lost count after awhile; the monkeys finally arrived at King Louie's domain, ruins to a people from ages past. In the center of this complex sat an orangutan, who was wishing how much he'd like to be a man while eating some bananas. "We got him King Louie!" one of the monkeys from the group that had kidnapped Mowgli and Max said as they set them down before their ruler. King Louie looked upon them with great interest.

"Word in the jungle is that you want to stay in the jungle," the orangutan said, hoping to strike some sort of arrangement with the man cub. He then noticed Max. "Say, who's this happening man?" Already the king of the swingers appealed to him.

"The name's Max," Max answered, "and I'm honored to meet, well, whoever you are."

"Why I'm none other than the great King Louie, king of swingers, the jungle VIP," King Louie replied, "and you kid, are welcome in my books. Oh, forgive my manners man cub; you do want to stay in the jungle, right?"

"I'd do anything to stay in the jungle!" Mowgli answered excitedly. "What about you kid, wanna stay around a bit?"

"Right on man!" Max replied. His eyes then focused on the small gummi part placed on King Louie's throne.

"Well, I think it's time to get this party started then, don't you?" King Louie asked. Both of them nodded their heads eagerly as the festivities began.

**KH-KH-KH**

The rescue group had finally arrived at the ancient ruins. Much to Bagheera's dismay, King Louie was acting like, well, King Louie, meaning it was party time. They were worried for both Mowgli and Max, though in all truth, they had little to no idea how they would react to this. All that Bagheera and Gene had was a hunch, and that was more than enough to dictate their actions. "All right, we need to figure out how we're going to get inside," Bagheera said. He looked up at Baloo who was moving towards a coconut tree. "Baloo, you oaf, what are you doing?"

"Getting us a disguise," the bear replied as he rammed the tree with his back, causing a few coconuts to fall. He threw them at a nearby rock and they split in two. Next the bear grabbed some grass and made a skirt, or a kilt, or something along those lines, and tied it around his waste, while putting on the coconut halves. "What do you think?"

"That has to be by far the dumbest thing you have yet to come up with," Bagheera answered.

"I don't know," Nexam replied, "how observant are these guys during a party?"

"They might be too busy to truly notice, why do you…you've got to be kidding me," Bagheera answered in dismay.

"It just might work," Gene added, "say, this gives me a plan. Nexam, follow Baloo's lead, keep the orangutan distracted. I'll swoop in and grab what we're looking for while you two wait for the right moment and grab Mowgli and Max. Or we could send Bagheera to do that one."

"I think I'd rather stand guard in case something should come up," the panther replied. "Seriously there's no way this will ever work, maybe a slight chance."

"And that's all we need Bagy," Baloo added with confidence and hope.

"It's worth a shot," Nexam replied, "besides, what's there to lose?"

"Our dignity for one," Bagheera answered.

"Still, they need us," Gene added, "we can't just sit here and do nothing, right guys?" The group nodded in response as Nexam put his costume with the supplies Baloo had gathered. Sure, it looked ridiculous, downright idiotic at that, but they needed to get them out of there before anything could happen. Baloo and Nexam headed inside the ruins with Bagheera close behind, hiding in the shadows where he blended in with perfectly. Gene flew up and landed in a small opening big enough for him to fit through. Once he was in place, he tapped his staff against the wall three times. Baloo and Nexam heard it, knowing it was their cue. It was time for them to perform.

The two cleverly disguised bears stepped out and joined the party. While everyone was busy dancing, no one paid close enough attention, as hoped, to see through their costumes. To ensure their cover wouldn't be blown, they began dancing around just like the other monkeys, keeping a watchful eye out for Max and Mowgli. _If only Lenne and Kev could see me now, they wouldn't believe it._ Baloo caught a glimpse of the man cub and Max talking with none other than the king of the swingers.

"Now here's your end of the deal cuz," King Louie said, "reveal the secret of man's red fire." Max looked surprised at the orangutan's request. Now he was beginning to have second thoughts about this.

"But I don't know how to make fire," Mowgli answered.

"Now don't be kidding me man cub," King Louie replied, "we made a deal, remember. What I desire is man's red fire…," He continued on, but Baloo didn't pay any heed to it, nor did Bagheera. While the orangutan was busy talking, Max carefully grabbed the gummi block and held on to it tightly.

"So that's why he wants Mowgli," Bagheera said after hearing this. He tapped his tail on the wall to alert Gene that they needed to act and fast. Gene heard the tapping and did the same with his staff. However, Nexam didn't seem to get the message.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said as he tried again. "And I was worried about Max." Holding out his staff, he aimed a weak Blizzard spell at Nexam's back. The cold chill got the bear's attention as he looked up at Gene. He then understood that they needed to get out of there and fast.

"You got it," Nexam replied, not sure if Gene could hear it as he went to alert Baloo of the current status. Still needing to maintain his cover, he danced his way there, inspiring the rest of the monkeys to join in and form a Conga line. "Not exactly what I had in mind," he whispered, "but it'll do." The Conga line made its way towards Baloo. He accidentally bumped into the bear, while whispering "time to get up and go," before resuming the festive dance as he moved most of the monkeys out of the way. Unfortunately, that bump made the grass skirts they had fall off, along with the coconut mouths. Bagheera and Gene gazed in dismay as the two bears continued dancing about, not realizing their costumes were gone. Every primate stood still as they stared at Baloo and Nexam, wondering what was going on. Nexam finally noticed that there was no one behind him and looked to see numerous eyes starring at him. He looked at himself and noticed he no longer had on his disguise. "Ah crap." Mowgli and Max saw them, slightly confused by the ordeal, but nonetheless glad.

"It's Baloo, get him!" one of the monkeys said as they charged at the bears. That moved soon ended as Wild Primes, Predators, and Constricts filled the empty ruins, thanks to the commands of a certain cowardly snake he slid off in the distance. Gene and Bagheera leaped into the scene at the sight of the Heartless.

"Change in plans guys," Nexam said as he summoned Knights Oath while Gene pulled out his staff and Max leapt in their direction with his shield ready. "Ready guys?"

"Yep, been itching to see some action," Max replied.

"Didn't you see enough with the party?" Gene asked skeptically.

"Eh, that, it's a bit overrated," Max answered.

"Mowgli, ready to show these guys what being a bear is all about?" Baloo asked.

"You got it Papa Bear!" Mowgli answered as they began to fight the Heartless. Just like Baloo taught him, the man cub pummeled a Wild Prime, knocking its roof in. It tried to attack, but Mowgli was too fast and dodged it. Baloo rammed any Heartless in his path with his massive bear shoulders, sending several of them into each other. Bagheera ran about, pouncing on unsuspecting Predators to then attack them furiously with his claws and teeth, defeating it shortly afterwards. Nexam would parry and counter several swings of the Predators' claws to then bash their heads with the end of his keyblade. Max slammed his shield into the faces of several Wild Primes as he used the agility of a monkey. Gene raised his staff and aimed. _Thunder!_ Lightning bolts descended from the sky on any nearby Heartless as Max and Nexam took care of them. Even King Louie joined in the fray, swinging about the ruins to grab and toss the Wild Primes and Constricts into the air with his hand like feet. This was his home after all.

Baloo charged once again at the Heartless, swinging his forearm at them as he ran. Mowgli kept pummeling them with his fists, throwing a few kicks in every now and then, though he was getting exhausted. _Cure!_ He and Baloo felt some of their energy return, and continued their onslaught. Nexam swung his keyblade horizontally at the group of Heartless in front of him, hitting most of them, though some evaded. Max spun around like a small tornado, dragging some Wild Primes and Constricts in to be bashed by his shield. Gene alternated again between Blizzard and Thunder spells, either freezing or electrocuting the Heartless within his general area. Bagheera leapt onto a Constrict, accidentally throwing it up in the air. Acting instinctively, Baloo grabbed it when it drew close and swung it around like a baseball bat, sending some Wild Primes and Predators flying into the ruin walls. Everyone starred as the dust settled after the impact, feeling a moment of temporary relief. That lasted until they heard the sound of the walls cracking. Within moments, it spread across the complex, leading to the eventual collapse of the structure.

"Baloo, Bagheera, get Mowgli out of here!" Nexam commanded as he continued to swing his keyblade about.

"But what about you guys?" Mowgli asked. "We can't leave you here!"

"Mowgli, it's not safe here anymore," Bagheera answered. "The ancient ruins are crumbling down, and we have to leave. Baloo, grab him and let's go!" Baloo wasn't sure who to listen to.

"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine," Nexam replied to the hesitating bear.

"We'll catch up with ya in a bit," Max added as he jabbed his shield into the neck of a Predator. Baloo nodded and grabbed the man cub as he and Bagheera ran out to safety. Nexam, Max, and Gene continued to fight in the falling ruins, doing their best to make short work of as many Heartless as possible. Knowing the structure wouldn't last much longer, Nexam charged at a Predator and some Wild Primes, swinging his keyblade with all his might to send them into a wall. After impact, that part of the ruins fell down, crushing the Heartless. That didn't stop the rest however. Attack after attack Max, Nexam, and Gene either dodged, blocked, or got hit with. The strength of the heroes was fading. _Cure!_ With the last of his magic reserves, he restored their energy just a bit. They continued fighting as long as they could, but time was short.

"We need to leave now!" Gene said as the rest of the structure began to fall. Nexam nodded, knowing they have no other option. Quickly, they ran towards the exit, defeating any Heartless in their way. However, that was taking time that they were desperately short on.

"Forget about them, just run!" Nexam ordered as they continued to run towards the exit. The Heartless continued to give chase until they were out of the ruins. Seconds later, the entire structure, or what was left of it, collapsed into a cloud of dust and pile of rubble, releasing any hearts the Heartless that were left inside had captured. They looked at what had been a very narrow escape and rested for a bit outside the ruins to restore their energy. Nexam had a bad feeling that they would soon need everything they had, and possibly more. That was the last thing that ran through his mind before his body collapsed for a much needed nap, along with Gene and Max.


	7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Fire

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Fire

When Nexam opened up his eyes, he noticed it was much darker than when he conked out. A few moments later, when he finally came to, he realized they fell asleep and were out for quite some time, judging by the position of the moon in the peaceful jungle sky. He looked over at his two companions who were still sound asleep. "Hey, Gene, Max, wake up!" he said as he shook them.

"A few more minutes…," Gene replied drowsily before being lost to sleep once again.

"But I don't wanna wake up…," Max grumbled. Nexam tried again.

"C'mon guys, get up, we gotta get going!" he ordered. The only sound he got for a response was their steady breathing. He moved his claws about anxiously before giving another glance towards his comrades. "Alrighty then, you guys asked for it. _Thunder!_" He aimed the weaker spell at the sleeping Max and Gene. Within moments, the lightning bolts hit their targets.

"AARGH!" Gene screamed instantly awake after being hit by Nexam's spell.

"YEOUCH!" Max screamed as he jumped into the air after being zapped wide awake. They turned they befuddled faces towards Nexam, who had a very large smirk on his face, holding in the laughter.

"Good, now that you're awake," he continued, "we really need to find Baloo, Bagheera, and Mowgli. Oh yeah, sorry about zapping ya, just needed to get you guys up."

"Never do that again," Gene replied slightly threateningly.

"Please don't," Max added, "that was painful. Really man, though I've gotta give ya props for it."

"Yeah, sure thing guys," Nexam replied, "anyway, let's go, no need to dilly dally any longer."

"Hold up a minute," Gene added, "we need to check something first. Max, did you manage to grab the gummi block?"

"Huh, oh this?" Max answered as he held one in his hand. Gene nodded his head. "Yeah, managed to swipe it while King Louie wasn't looking, good thing you reminded me."

"Indeed so," Gene replied.

"Well, that's a relief," Nexam added definitely relieved a bit. "It's comforting to know that we didn't go through all this for nothing; anyway, let's get going, no need to dilly dally any longer."

"Or keep Baloo, Bagheera, and Mowgli worried either," Gene added as they ran off into the jungle once again.

**KH-KH-KH**

In a not so distant part of the jungle bordering the river, Bagheera and Baloo kept watch while young Mowgli rested from his eventful day. They kept an eye out for Nexam, Gene, and Max, who where way past overdue on showing up, worrying them, but also for any nearby Heartless. The infestation seemed to be getting worse as they encountered them wherever they went. Even worse, Baloo and Bagheera had no idea on what exactly Shere Khan was planning, let alone if he was connected to any of these events, though the panther thought so. But for now, he had another task to attend to. And the appearance of the keyblade bearer and his friends would make it much easier. "Nexam, Max, Gene, you made it out safely," Bagheera said.

"Yeah," Nexam replied, "we barely made it out before the ruins completely collapsed."

"And then kinda conked out," Max added.

"We apologize if we worried you," Gene replied, "believe me, it wasn't our intention, in fact, we owe Nexam here a bit of thanks for a _shocking_ awakening." Nexam placed one paw behind his head, knowing the true meaning of that comment.

"Well, it's good to see you three again," Baloo added, "but let's keep it down; Little Britches over there's sleeping." They nodded and moved a short distance away.

"Anyway, what's up?" Nexam asked, curious as to what he, Gene, and Max may have missed during their siesta.

"As you three already know," Bagheera answered, "and I'm sure that you Baloo have noticed, the jungle just isn't safe anymore. The Heartless grow in numbers by the day, attacking anywhere at any given time, and Shere Khan still lurks wanting to kill Mowgli." Gene and Max were surprised at the announcement, while Nexam and Baloo were aware of the truth.

"Wait, why would he wanna kill Mowgli?" Max asked with confusion. "He's just a kid."

"Because he fears man's gun and man's fire," Bagheera answered.

"But Mowgli doesn't have those things," Baloo pointed out.

"And Shere Khan won't allow him to ever have the chance of getting those," Bagheera replied, "that's why he'll strike while he's young and defenseless."

"But what if we tell him Mowgli doesn't have those things?" Max asked.

"It wouldn't work," Bagheera answered, "no one explains anything to Shere Khan; he just won't listen."

"Thought as much," Gene added, "well what do we do?"

"We have one choice," Bagheera answered, "Baloo, you and Nexam need to convince him that he'll be safer and happier in the man village."

"But I can't do that," Baloo retorted, "he's like a son to me."

"Then who better to convince him than his father figure," Bagheera replied.

"Baloo, it's for his own good," Nexam added, putting a comforting paw on his shoulder. "Believe me, I know how you feel, I'm looking for two people I care for very much, and I'd do anything to keep them safe." He hung his head lower as he said this, wishing desperately to find Lenne and Kev, if not them, then something that would let him know they're all right, something to ease his heart.

"You're right Bagy," Baloo replied with a sigh, "I can't put little Mowgli in danger, he does belong with his own kind. But can it wait until tomorrow?"

"Sure thing Baloo," Bagheera replied, "let's let him rest peacefully."

"And we'll be there to support you," Nexam added, slightly cheery, hoping to raise Baloo's spirits. "Mowgli's our friend too, and we want what's best for him."

"Yeah," Max replied, "you can count on us."

"Without a doubt," Gene added.

"Thanks guys," Baloo replied, "it really means a lot to me."

"No prob," Nexam answered as they began to discuss how to divide the night shift so everyone would be well rested. Nexam volunteered to take the first one; he had to clear his head of a few things anyway. Once everyone was situated and comfortable, or as best as possible on the latter, the keyblade bearer manned his post on a nearby rock. In his mind, he remembered various times that Kev, Lenne, and himself hung out together fairly recently before their world fell.

"_So, what do you guys think about the big dance coming up?" Kev asked with curiosity. The dance was only about a month and a half away._

"_I think you mean the Masquerade Gala Kev," Lenne replied._

"_Whatever, a dance's a dance, right Nexam?" Kev asked with a smirk. Truly he didn't really care for such trivial things to a certain degree. Going single and dancing with the ladies however was something he favored._

"_That depends on who you ask," Nexam answered, slightly emotionless. "For some, well, it's the biggest event of the year. For others, it's just commercialism."_

"_Touché Nexam," Kev replied, agreeing with the latter counterpoint he had made._

"_But what about you?" Lenne asked. Nexam sat quietly at the table of the restaurant for a few moments before coming too again._

"_I…I guess I never really thought about it," he answered, somewhat surprised. "Just enjoy the company of your date if you have one, if not, your friends that are there. Heck, get some laughs outta it while you're at it." Kev nodded in agreement, as did Lenne._

"_Well, maybe the real question here is are you two going?" Kev asked, implying something that Nexam picked up on rather quick, his face turning a slight shade of red._

"_Uh...I dunno, maybe, I guess," he answered with heavy doubts. There was only one person that could convince him to go, and she was sitting right beside him._

"_And you Lenne?" Kev asked once more, hoping that perhaps he could patch something up between the two. He knew time was running short, and should Nexam not act now, he'll probably never have the chance and regret it. Then again, Nexam hinted at that when Kev asked him during a different conversation._

"_Sure, why not," Lenne answered cheerfully. Nexam's doubts began to fade away. "You said it was about being with your friends and having fun, right? Well, why don't we do that?"_

"_She makes a convincing argument," Nexam replied, "and I really don't see that much to loose, besides some munny."_

"_And how," Kev interrupted, "you know it's not that cheap, and just another commercialistic opportunity."_

"_I know," Nexam replied, glancing in Lenne's direction for a moment, getting lost in her beautiful brown eyes, then returning to face Kev, "but the memories are what really matter. We don't know where fate will lead us after this, so let's enjoy being with each other as long as we can."_

"_Well said Nexam," Lenne added, smiling at the warm gesture he suggested. Kev was struck by an idea and a brilliant one at that._

"_Fine, under two conditions," he replied. Nexam and Lenne both knew that Kev had a rather excellent talent at striking deals, contracts, bets, etc. He just seemed to have a way with things, something Nexam envied slightly, but respected more._

"_And those are?" Nexam asked curiously._

"_First, you two have to go together," Kev answered confidently. Both Lenne and Nexam blushed slightly at his suggestion._

"_Well, I don't mind, do you Nexam?" Lenne asked. Nexam's mind raced with two thoughts, the first being how long he waited for something like this to happen, the second, that he was going to beat the living crap out of Kev once Lenne went home. Either that, or defeat him dramatically in the Brawl Tournament on Monday. Maybe both, he could use a good laugh after this._

"_Not at all, in fact I'd be honored," he answered, realizing that he may have gone a bit too far with the last part. Lenne smiled warmly at him, soothing his restless nerves. "Now, what's the second one?" Kev crossed his arms with the largest smirk they had ever seen on his face. Whatever it was, he was savoring the moment._

"_The second condition is that you two have to go on a date sometime before this fancy ordeal," Kev answered. Nexam's jaw was ready to drop down to the table, maybe even slide down to the floor. Kev would definitely experience some sort of payback after this stunt. Lenne sat speechless too. "Well, I need to know if you too agree with it, otherwise, I'm not going." Nexam was the first to speak, something that surprised even him._

"_Well, if it's all right with you, we could go as friends..." he said, with his mouth twitching ever so slightly, though he could feel it, and his leg shaking. This next moment would make or break him._

"_If it's with you Nexam, I don't mind at all," Lenne replied warmly, filling his heart with joy. Kev wasn't exactly sure, but he had a hunch that she said yes to these terms for another reason besides convincing him to go, the same reason that Nexam had agreed._

"_Then it's settled then," Kev added as he held out his hand. Nexam nodded as he grabbed it and shook it, with Lenne doing the same._

"Hey Nexam," Max said as he walked up to him, snapping him out of his moment of nostalgia. "Time for my shift, hey, you ok?"

"Huh, oh, I guess it is," Nexam answered as he stood up. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"Your call dude," Max replied, "well, take it easy then. See ya in the morning."

"Will do," Nexam answered as he walked towards the camp and fell asleep under the stars. Though his flashback reminded him of the eventful night, there was a soothing effect it had on his troubled mind as he floated into a peaceful sleep.

**KH-KH-KH**

The dawn had come, waking up the resting animals in their safely watched spot. Bagheera walked up to Baloo and whispered something to him. The bear reluctantly nodded his head and looked over at Nexam, Max, and Gene, who stood ready to give him all the support he may need. Mowgli was the last one to wake up. "Morning Baloo," he said while he stretched, yawning a bit too. The bear looked at his friends one last time, and knew what he had to do.

"Hey, get that sleep outta your eye," Baloo replied. "You and me, well, we need to get some talking done."

"Sure thing Papa Bear," Mowgli added excitedly as he walked beside the bear off into the jungle. "See you guys around later."

"Take care Mowgli, Baloo," Bagheera replied as the two set off.

"We'll be here waiting for ya," Nexam added, "and good luck." With nothing more they could do, the group sat around, waiting for Baloo and Mowgli to return, and greatly hoping for his success.

**KH-KH-KH**

Baloo and Mowgli strolled through the jungle. The man cub was without a care in the world, while a heavy burden rested on Baloo's shoulders. He didn't know how to tell Mowgli that he belonged in the man village. Bagheera had tried but to no avail, that's how he ended up with Baloo in the first place. That was interrupted by a small group of Heartless that felt manifesting themselves would be a good idea. You don't mess with a troubled bear. Once they were defeated, Baloo knew that he had to tell Mowgli now. He could risk putting him in danger any longer.

"Hey Mowgli," Baloo said.

"Yeah Papa Bear," Mowgli answered. Baloo was stumped for a moment, until he thought of a way of approaching the subject.

"You wouldn't marry a panther or anything like that?" he asked somewhat jokingly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mowgli answered as he chased off after a bug. No luck yet, but Baloo wasn't going to call it quits yet.

"Mowgli, don't you realize you're a human," the bear pleaded.

"No, I'm a bear just like you!" Mowgli replied. He started to circle around Baloo in the manner he was taught how to fight.

"Mowgli, listen to me, stop it, hold on," Baloo added grabbing Mowgli's hands. "Now listen."

"What's the matter Papa Bear?" Mowgli asked, noticing something was troubling his friend.

"Look, I've been trying to tell ya, I've been trying all morning," Baloo answered pleading to the man cub once more. "I've got to take you back to the man village."

"The man village!" Mowgli replied in shock. "But you said I could stay here…"

"Mowgli, it's for your safety," Baloo answered, "please try to understand…"

"No I don't," Mowgli interrupted angrily. "You're just like Bagheera, all of you! You don't care about me, none of you do!"

"Hey, now that's going too far!" Baloo replied sharply. Mowgli didn't need to hear any more of this. Without a second thought he ran off into the jungle away from Baloo, Bagheera, anyone that would make him go to the man village. "Mowgli!" Baloo shouted as he chased after him. "Mowgli!"

Over at the campsite, Bagheera, Nexam, Max, and Gene overheard Baloo shouting Mowgli's name. With no time to spare, they ran off in the direction the bear was calling from, while fighting any Heartless in their path. This was the last thing they needed at this point. Moments later, they caught up with Baloo. "What happened?" Bagheera asked.

"Mowgli, he ran off," Baloo answered, "I'm sorry guys, I tried, and I did my best."

"Hey, you did all you could," Nexam replied. "It was always up to Mowgli anyway."

"What do we do now?" Max asked.

"We split up and look for him," Bagheera answered. Without wasting another second, Nexam, Max, and Gene ran off in one direction, while Baloo and Bagheera went in separate ones.

**KH-KH-KH**

Mowgli had wondered about for a short time now, running into various animals he had met earlier. None of it mattered, the man cub just needed to find some sort of sanctuary in his jungle home. He was raised here his entire life, he just couldn't leave it behind. And how could Baloo and Bagheera try to tear Mowgli from his home, it just wasn't right; at least that's what ran through his frustrated mind. However, the tidbits about his leaving being for his own good also darted about, confusing him slightly. When Mowgli stopped running, he stood before the magnificent falls of his world as a pair of reptile eyes watched with interest as the man cub gazed into the distance. Kaa didn't another moment to make his presence known as he slithered down from the tree's branches. "So, I hear you want to stay in jungle," the python said as invitingly as a snake can.

"Not now Kaa, I'm not in the mood," Mowgli replied somberly.

"What's the matter man cub?" Kaa asked.

"It's like you said, I want to stay here in the jungle," Mowgli answered, "but Baloo, Bagheera, Nexam, Max, and Gene all think I belong in the man village." The python's task of kidnapping Mowgli had just become easier, and with the others out looking for him, they would be lead to Shere Khan in no time.

"I'm sure we can find a way to let you stay," Kaa replied in a hypnotizing manner. Mowgli covered his eyes, knowing the deceitful trick the serpent was up too. He couldn't help feel as if Kaa was telling the truth, saying exactly what his heart wanted to hear. Slowly, he opened his eyes and was lost to the python's hypnotic spell. He didn't even hear his name being called, or that the snake had wrapped around his body moving him up to the tree.

"Mowgli!" Nexam shouted as he, Max, and Gene arrived in the clearing where Mowgli and Kaa were. It was too late; Kaa had him under his grasp.

"You're too late keyblade bearer," the snake said smugly, though there was a hint of fear. "Mowgli's coming with me to be dealt with by Shere Khan."

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Nexam retorted as he summoned Knight's Oath, with Max and Gene pulling out their shield and staff. Kaa gulped at the sight of the keyblade. He remembered that the White Witch said it was a powerful weapon, but now, he wondered how much it would hurt him.

"Is it just me, or is this snake scared?" Max asked.

"Nah, he's scared all right," Gene answered.

"I don't take too kindly to being insulted," Kaa replied with more fear in his voice, "but if you want a fight, I'd be more than happy to satisfy." With that, the python swung his tail at the heroes, making contact with his unexpected move. Kaa grinned at what he thought was an early victory. That was until a flying keyblade and shield hit his back, followed by a quick Blizzard spell. The python began to encircle the three heroes, with each ring getting smaller and smaller. Nexam swung his keyblade at Kaa, while Max bashed his shield into the snake's body and Gene cast Blizzard in an attempt to stop it. The python continued to wrap around them, finally getting to their bodies. Nexam looked at Gene and nodded, though they were in pain. _Thunder!_ Numerous lightning bolts descended from the heavens striking Kaa multiple times. "Yaow!" Kaa hissed in pain.

**KH-KH-KH**

Over in another part of the jungle, Baloo and Bagheera continued to search for Mowgli. The panther looked up at the sky and saw the double Thunder spell being cast in the distance. "That's Nexam, Gene and Max," Bagheera said.

"Think they found Mowgli?" Baloo asked worriedly.

"One way to find out," the panther answered as they ran towards the lightning display, hoping that whatever caused Nexam and Gene to cast that spell didn't have Mowgli in its clutches.

**KH-KH-KH**

After recovering from the shocking maneuver, Kaa continued to slither about, swiping his tail or lunging at the heroes periodically who would either parry or evade his attacks. The python's hopes of capturing the keyblade bearer as well were diminishing, until he realized he had one last card to play. He starred Nexam straight in the eye and tried to hypnotize him like he had done with Mowgli. Nexam slowly started to fall under his spell. _Blizzard!_ The ice hit Kaa right between the eyes, followed by Max's shield, disrupting his hypnosis attempt, and freeing Nexam. "Thanks guys," he said.

"No prob man," Max replied.

"Couldn't have you trance out on us," Gene added. Nexam nodded as he swung his keyblade at the python's head, then at his body. Kaa knew he wouldn't last much longer and bringing the man cub to the tiger was more important than these punks.

"I really hate to disappoint you, but I'm afraid I must be off," the cowardly snake began as his body wrapped around Mowgli and began to slither away.

"No you don't!" Nexam replied as he charged at Kaa, only to be whacked by his tail on his snout. The python slithered in pain out of sight, leaving the three heroes to their own means. _Damn! _They were about to pursue until they heard familiar voices shouting Mowgli's name. Baloo and Bagheera arrived on the scene shortly afterwards.

"What happened?" Bagheera asked.

"Did you find Mowgli?" Baloo asked.

"Yeah, but a snake hypnotized him," Max answered.

"Kaa, so he's behind this," Bagheera added as he tried to figure out what the python wanted.

"He wrapped around him and took him to Shere Khan," Nexam replied. "Oh no…"

"Shere Khan?" the panther asked making sure he heard correctly.

"We need to get moving now!" Baloo thundered.

"That's right!" Gene replied, "We have to save Mowgli!"

"And we will guys," Nexam added as they followed the panther and bear, hoping they weren't too late to help their friend.

**KH-KH-KH**

Kaa had dragged Mowgli along until he reached a dry, dead, isolated area of the jungle, where his employer so to speak was waiting. The dark clouds above signaled the approach of the oncoming storm. Though he couldn't see the tiger, he knew that somewhere in the dry brush he was waiting. Kaa removed Mowgli from his coils and sat him down near a dead tree, slithering off before anything could befall him. He was already sore as it was from his confrontation with Nexam. The man cub sat still until he came out of his trance, instantly wondering where he was. "Hello man cub," the calm, yet hostile voice of Shere Khan said. Mowgli looked around frantically to see where it came from.

"Show yourself!" he demanded.

"With pleasure," the tiger replied as he emerged into sight. Mowgli stared in awe, remembering what Bagheera had told him about Shere Khan.

"Mowgli!" Nexam and the others shouted. The man cub and tiger looked to see the keyblade bearer running towards them, along with Baloo, Bagheera, Max, and Gene.

"Papa Bear!" Mowgli replied as he ran to Baloo, meeting him halfway. "I'm sorry, I really am."

"Hey, don't worry about it Little Britches," Baloo added comfortingly, "you're here with us now, you're safe."

"I wouldn't count on that," Shere Khan replied.

"Yeah, what do you know?" Nexam inquired. His eyes darted about the landscape, Gene's as well, noticing how unusually dry it was and the ever approaching thunderstorm.

"Why, more than you realize keyblade bearer," the tiger answered. Nexam glared at him. "This is my jungle, and you intruders must be dealt with. Unfortunately, you've bested everything I've sent your way. No matter, I shall deal with you myself."

"Mowgli, get back," Bagheera said as he and Baloo walked up to where the trio stood. "We'll handle Shere Khan."

"But I wanna help too," Mowgli replied, "this is my home as much as yours, and you guys are like family to me."

"Baloo, what do you think?" Bagheera asked reluctantly. He only hoped his friend's answer would be the wisest.

"Mowgli's one of us, he deserves the chance to defend our home," Baloo answered, grinning. Bagheera knew what he said was the truth, and nodded.

"Oh, how touching," Shere Khan retorted, "but as fate would have it, I will be the one to end this happy reunion."

"Go ahead and try," Max replied confidently, "that is if your old bones can."

"I'll go with what he said," Gene added.

"Why you insult brats," the tiger growled. "You shall learn your place here."

"We already do," Nexam answered, "right here between you and Mowgli, right Baloo?"

"You got it pal," Baloo replied.

"Then allow me to remove you from it all together," Shere Khan added as he gave another roar and leapt at Mowgli. Nexam instantly summoned his keyblade and jumped in front of the tiger's path, holding Knight's Oath horizontally to keep him at bay. The move sent Nexam back a bit, though he still managed to keep his guard. Shere Khan smirked as he began to push with all his might, swiping with his paws at Nexam's arms. Quickly, he brought his keyblade up, sending the tiger back, and brought it down, slashing at the beast. Like Kaa, Shere Khan had underestimated the strength of the keyblade bearer, a mistake he would not make again.

While the tiger took a brief moment to recover, Max began his agile onslaught with his shield, repeatedly smacking Shere Khan. Gene flew about, casting Blizzard and Thunder when he got the chance. Baloo swung his arms at the tiger, punching with an uppercut when the moment presented itself. Shere Khan began to stalk the group, waiting to pounce. Bagheera did likewise, until the two great cats were caught within an epic struggle, claws swiping and fangs biting. Since Shere Khan was distracted with attacking and defending against Bagheera and the others, he didn't notice Mowgli who crept by and pummeled his side, followed by Nexam on the other. Thunder began crackling in the distance, followed by an illuminating display of lightning. Shere Khan flinched when he saw a lightning bolt strike a nearby tree, igniting it in flames. Nexam then remembered what the great tiger feared, fire. "Gene, we need to cast Thunder on that tree!" he said, pointing at the dead tree. Gene looked at it and understood.

"You got it," he replied. _Thunder!_ The double electric spell hit its mark on the tree, setting it ablaze. Mowgli ran up to it and grabbed a small branch that he stuck into the fire, making a torch. With the storm's wind, the fire began to spread through the dry brush. Shere Khan slowly backed away from the dancing flames, still slashing at Nexam with his claws. Nexam blocked and quickly swung his keyblade in a semi-circle, making sure the tiger was in its path. Baloo charged at the retreating tiger, hitting him with his shoulders. Shere Khan retaliated with two swings of his paws sending the bear down.

"NOOOO!" Mowgli screamed as he ran at the tiger with his torch, swinging it at him like Nexam did with his keyblade. Shere Khan roared but knew he was running out of time. When he looked up, he saw Nexam running towards him with Max on his shoulder and Gene on the other side. Max threw his shield and Nexam his keyblade as Gene cast Blizzard on the swinging weapons just before they collided with their target. Shere Khan roared in pain after it and as Bagheera bit his leg. The tiger shook him off and retreated into the jungle.

"You haven't seen the last of me man cub and keyblade bearer," Shere Khan threatened as he disappeared from sight. The rain began to fall, dowsing the flames as the group approached Baloo.

"Papa Bear," Mowgli said softly, hoping he would be heard. He knelt down and tried to shake him. "Baloo, get up, please get up." The others watched in silent sadness as Mowgli continued trying the shake him awake. Bagheera held his head down, as did Nexam, Max and Gene.

"Mowgli," the panther spoke as he walked towards him, "try to understand."

"No, you don't mean, no Baloo!" Mowgli replied, hugged his heroic friend.

"You have to be brave, just like Baloo," Nexam added, trying to hide the tears that ran down his face. He put his paw on Mowgli's shoulder.

"Now, now. I know how you feel," Bagheera replied, "But you must remember, Mowgli: 'Greater love hath no one than he who lays down his life for his friend.'" The group didn't notice one of Baloo's eyes slowly open as he listened to the whole thing.

"He was the greatest bear we ever met," Max replied, trying his best to be comforting.

"The jungle shall always remember the tale of his bravery," Gene added, sobbing.

"Beautiful," Baloo whispered, though no one heard him.

"Come on Mowgli, we have to get going," Bagheera replied. Slowly, Mowgli rose and joined them as they began to walk away.

"Hey, don't stop now guys, you're doing great!" Baloo shouted as he began to stand up. "I know there's more, lots more!" Instantly everyone turned around to gaze upon their friend.

"Why…y-you fraud you…," Bagheera yelled in disgust after being fooled by a stunt like that.

"Baloo!" the others shouted as they ran up to the bear, rejoicing that they had not lost their beloved friend. Even Bagheera couldn't stay stern for long and joined Nexam, Max, Gene, and Mowgli. It seemed nothing could draw them away from this moment, until Mowgli heard someone singing. He ran off in the direction the sound came from, with the rest of the group in hot pursuit. On the other side of the river stood a young girl, roughly Mowgli's age. She was singing as she gathered water into a large terra cotta amphora vase. Like the sirens of ancient Greece, the man cub was placed under her spell as he began to approach.

"Hey, what's going on?" Baloo asked.

"It seems that he's heading to the man village," Bagheera answered, just as surprised as his friend was. Bagheera couldn't help but feel glad for the Mowgli going to where he belonged.

"Baloo," Nexam said, "you know it's for the best."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Baloo replied, "Mowgli belongs in that village, who am I to stop him?"

"A wise answer my friend," Bagheera added, doing his best to comfort him. They continued to watch as the girl filled the vase, accidentally dropping it when she saw Mowgli. He went down to it and filled it up. The girl smiled as she began to walk towards her village.

"Hey, it's not like you won't see him again," Gene replied.

"Yeah, there's no way he could forget you!" Max added. Baloo smiled at the thought. Mowgli turned around and faced them one last time as he held the filled up vase on his head.

"Go on, go on," Bagheera urged.

"Don't worry, we'll be around Little Britches," Baloo added.

"Take care Mowgli," Nexam replied. It was then that he noticed the vase was glowing. Instantly, he was transported to the heart of the world, with the vase floating up in the air. At first he didn't know what to do, but shortly afterwards, he remembered something familiar about this. He drew out his keyblade, swinging it around a bit, and then aimed it at the vase. A white beam of light flew from the tip of Knight's Oath to the vase. A click was then heard as Nexam sealed this world. He returned to the others who looked questioningly at what had happened. "Guess it's time for us to go to," Nexam added.

"I'm afraid so," Gene added, nodding his head.

"Well then, good luck to you all," Bagheera replied.

"Take it easy small fry," Baloo added, placing a paw on Nexam's shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll stop by and visit," Max replied.

"Take care guys," Nexam added as he waved goodbye to their new friends and left towards their gummi ship. Mowgli nodded and followed the girl into the village, where he would be safe from Shere Khan, and watched over by his friends Baloo and Bagheera.


	8. The Dark Harbinger

The Dark Harbinger

Within a dark world known as the Nexus of Oblivion, a place that is in between existence and non-existence stands a mighty fortress floating on an island over a desolate wasteland, the Dark Citadel. Behind this grand castle was a vortex of darkness, or as it was known to the Five Judges, the Nexus of Oblivion. Within the fortress' foyer sat four cloaked people, two men and two women. The group sat at a small circular table, awaiting the arrival of their fifth member, Lasinix, the Glacial Aristocrat, the Third Judge. The other members consisted of Davdix, the Thunderous Brute, the Fifth Judge; Xagnos, the Dark Harbinger, the First Judge and the group's leader; Axmy, the Conniving Gale, the Second Judge and one of the group's only females; and Xenkra, the Vexing Blaze, the Fourth Judge and the group's other female. Moments later, a dark portal appeared and the last attendee made his appearance. "You're late again Lasinix," Davdix said irritably. He was quickly silenced by a gesture of Xagnos' hand.

"My apologies," Lasinix replied calmly, "I didn't realize…"

"Damn right you didn't realize anything ass clown," Davdix interrupted angrily.

"Wow, the brute can speak, I'm touched," Lasinix replied caustically, still retaining his normal calm and cool demeanor. "Have you learned any other new tricks while I was away?" Davdix growled at his statement while Lasinix smirked confidently.

"Davdix, Lasinix, will you two let me tend to business?" Xagnos asked with great irritancy. "I have no time for your incompetence, so spare me the trouble of hearing you speak."

"Yes my liege," Davdix and Lasinix answered.

"Men," Xenkra of the females replied bitterly, shaking her head at the pathetic sight. Even the lesser Nobodies were more orderly than these two, and much more quiet.

"Hey, I haven't seen you do much of anything!" Davdix retorted. Again, their leader silenced him.

"I grow tired of this," Xagnos said with even more irritancy to his normally calm demeanor. "Lasinix, stats report."

"Nexam is stronger than I expected," Lasinix replied, "I must say I never thought him to somehow manage to survive in a new world, then again, the keyblade is a strong weapon."

"He has a keyblade already?" Axmy asked. "Great, he's whole again."

"I wouldn't be so hasty," Lasinix answered, pausing for the effect.

"Well, get on with it dammit!" Davdix replied slamming a hand onto the table. "What do you mean?"

"Patience my muscular oaf," Lasinix replied, "I choose my words wisely, something you could learn from, least they be used against you by someone more clever."

"Say that to my face!" Davdix shouted as he rose from his seat, summoning his large hammer into his hands. Its head was large and golden yellow, while the shaft and grip were grey.

"Sit down before you strain yourself," Lasinix replied calmly and coldly. "I'm sure Xagnos still has use for someone of your talents, if one can call them such. However, if it's a challenge you want, I'd more than happy to put you in your place." Lasinix's calm smirk faded into one more aggressive as he said this, hoping that the brute would take his bait. Davdix was getting furious at the constant insults, and strongly considering the challenge, but a glare from their leader Xagnos put him and Lasinix in their place. He put up his weapon and sat back down.

"Lasinix, do not try my patience," Xagnos added with a much harsher tone, now tired of this charade. "Now please continue or I will be forced to take drastic measures in which your obliteration will be guaranteed." He motioned to the window that had a spectacular view of the dark nexus that will destroy anyone and anything that ventures too deep. As far as the group knew, no one returned from it. Lasinix stood nervously for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing.

"As you wish my liege," he continued. "Yes, our close acquaintance has come into possession of a keyblade, the same one we saw before." Lasinix lowered his hood, revealing his spiky and moderately long, light brown hair and his green right eye. Across his left was a scar that robbed him of his vision, and ability to open it, an abomination to his perfect face. "The same one that peasant used to give me this!" he continued, with much more anger in his voice than before.

"And the kid?" Xenkra asked.

"Right, forgive my brief display of emotion," Lasinix answered, "not that we Nobodies can truly display emotion. Ah yes, Nexam I believe his name was, aligned with some of the world's more colorful residents against our Dusks. He truly has no recollection of who we are, though I'm sure that Blue Fairy explained briefly the operations of our organization."

"So Nexam knows we exist though he doesn't remember our identities and purpose," Xagnos answered. "Perhaps I should thank that idiotic King Mickey for hiding him from us. Obtaining Kingdom Hearts may have become so much easier."

"But what about Organization XIII?" Axmy asked curiously.

"Yeah, won't those idiots just get in our way like they always do?" Davdix asked in response.

"They matter not to me," Xagnos answered rather collectedly. "Their numbers have already dwindled due to the work of Sora and Riku in Castle Oblivion. Xemnas lacks the intelligence to properly manipulate the keyblade bearer. Should they be disposed of, it would be in our advantage. Organization XIII's role in this game of conquest will surely end after all, their mistakes are the catalysts."

"And the White Witch and her alliance?" Xenkra asked.

"They too have begun poorly," Xagnos answered, "exploiting their trump card, alias Kev, to their own means far too early. The keyblade bearer's wrath will destroy them before the end." Axmy nodded at his statement, along with Xenkra and Davdix. Lasinix however was another story.

"Correct me if I may be mistaken," he continued, "but do we not hold a similar pawn, Nexam's other friend?"

"Ah yes, the hero's maiden," Xagnos answered as he snapped his fingers. A transparent teal crystal appeared before the group, with Lenne encased in it. She appeared to be in a hibernating state, completely oblivious to the events that transpired after she fell into the dark abyss. "Unlike the poorly misguided Jadis, I have left things unaltered. She remains in the same state as when I ripped her from her fading world. Nexam's desire to be reunited with her will make him submit to our will."

**KH-KH-KH**

Hidden within the shadows of the ceiling, a young man clad in lightweight black armor clung to the roof and walls as he listened to the Five Judges. He had light brown hair, similar to that of Nexam's in style and brown eyes. If someone didn't know any better, they would say the two were related. As soon as the crystal Xagnos summoned appeared, his full attention was diverted to it. "Lenne," he whispered as he recognized the person encased in the crystal prison. "What the hell have they done to you?" His anger began to flare, with his brown eyes turning into a bright, lifeless yellow. "Those bastards will pay for this; I swear they'll pay dearly!" The young man briefly glanced at some water droplets that had collected on the metal and stone castle's walls. He noticed his eyes were the color of the Heartless. Quickly, he moved the ninja type cloth mask the rested on top of his head and covered his face with it, leaving only a narrow slit for his eyes. He had to calm down and focus on what the Five Judges said for now.

**KH-KH-KH**

"And what exactly do you intend to do with her once Nexam has completed all you _humbly_ request?" Lasinix asked calculatingly. He was extremely anxious to their leader's full intentions which have been kept rather secretive. Xagnos cracked a smile, never a good thing.

"Simple my under trusting associate," the First Judge replied, "kill them both. By that point, they will have far outlived their usefulness to us, and I see no need to leave any stray pieces behind."

"So you say now," Lasinix added coldly. Xagnos glared at him, tired of this Judge testing his patience over and over again.

"You should have more faith in Xagnos," Axmy replied sternly, rather fed up with the situation. One would assume that Lasinix wanted to usurp Xagnos, but that wasn't the case at all. Being an aristocrat, he merely wanted to ensure that his needs were met, not that he cared for the others, but since they were useful, he would pretend to do so. Then again, Nobodies can't truly care, they only remember how.

"Can we just get on with this?" Xenkra asked, far beyond irate at this point. Lasinix glared at her and chuckled.

"Far be it from me to refuse a lady," he replied in the most gentlemanly manner. Xenkra scowled at him, but refrained from saying anything further. The sooner Xagnos released them from this meeting, the better.

"Well, now what do we do?" Davdix asked, doing his best to restore order to this disorderly function.

"Simple, we wait for the game to be in our favor," Xagnos answered. "All Nexam knows is that we exist, nothing more. Not even that wretched and misguided Blue Fairy could know our true motives."

"As you wish my liege," Lasinix replied, though he desperately sought to settle his vendetta with Nexam. Then again, a true test of the hero's strength could prove satisfactory to both the group and himself.

"For now, carry out your individual assignments in the other worlds," Xagnos added. Xenkra cracked a smile full of malice. Axmy nodded, along with Davdix and Lasinix. If he just happened to run into Nexam, he could always justify combat as a test. "Dismissed." The Five Judges rose from their seats and went their separate ways into the dark portals each of them summoned. Xagnos turned around and gazed at his trophy for a moment, before sending it back into the depths of the citadel. With that task full attended to, he summoned a dark portal and stepped into it, leaving the room completely devoid of life except for the young man cloaked within the shadows. Having heard all that he needed, he crept out of the fortress, wondering why the name Nexam sounded familiar to him the whole time.

**KH-KH-KH**

Max, Nexam, and Gene were nearing the location of their gummi ship. "Nexam, Max, Gene," someone shouted. The trio turned around to see Baloo and Bagheera running towards them.

"Hey good to see you guys again," Nexam replied as they warmly welcomed their friends.

"Is something up?" Gene asked with concern. If the world needed them still, Gene, Nexam, and Max would be more than happy to help.

"Nah, just wanted to see you off," Baloo answered, giving Nexam a high five.

"And we thought these might be of use to you," Bagheera added. Baloo looked clueless for a moment. "Now you big oaf," the panther whispered.

"Oh, right, I gotcha Bagy," the bear replied winking. He extended his paws, holding two red orbs with a flame on them, two gummi blocks, and a tropical fruit tree keychain. "We found these after you left, and figured you'd need them."

"Thank you Baloo and Bagheera," Nexam added as he warmly received their gifts, somewhat speechless at the kind gesture. "I-I don't know what to say."

"I think you already said thanks dude," Max replied.

"And you three have done more than enough to earn these," Bagheera added. "For helping us with the Heartless, Shere Khan, and Mowgli, it's the least we could do."

"It's not like we didn't have help," Gene replied courteously. "Both of you have done more than your fare share as well."

"Yeah man," Baloo added. "There's no way we're just gonna sit around and let some washed up tiger and his Heartless take over our home without a fight!"

"Thanks again guys," Nexam replied.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Baloo added, giving him a bear hug.

"Well, it must be time for you three to be off now," Bagheera replied. The trio said their goodbyes and headed off towards their gummi ship once again. When they arrived at their destination, Gene and Nexam each took one orb, and felt the power of Fire flow through them. Nexam then looked down at the keychain Baloo had given him. He summoned Knight's Oath and attached the new keychain he received. His keyblade began to glow with a bright white and then its appearance changed completely. The hand guard consisted of one yellow banana and the blue river, with the shaft of the weapon resembling the trunk of the tree, even with the same contour. At the top were three palm leaves, two on the keyblade's side, one on the other with a banana on the side with and a coconut, completing the sharp end of the weapon. The words _Bare Necessities_ popped into Nexam's head as he held his keyblade, a fitting name in his opinion.

"Hey man, you alright?" Max asked. Nexam shook his head and came too.

"Yeah, sorry about that, just thinking," he answered as he put up Bare Necessities. "Anyway, do we have all the gummi blocks we need?"

"I'd say so from the looks of it," Gene replied as he set the parts down. "All right then, time to fix her up!" Quickly they got to work replacing the damaged gummi blocks with the four new ones they had acquired, replacing communication first in case the Returners sent a distress call, or anyone else for that matter. Once that was done, Max, Nexam, and Gene began working with the other parts in need of replacement.

"Hey guys," Nexam said, "doesn't it seem just a bit eerie that we found the spare gummi blocks here?"

"Come to think of it, yeah," Gene answered, amazed that he had not devoted more thought to the issue.

"It's like they were left here for us," Max added, puzzled as much as the others by this situation. "That's kind freaky, like someone's watching us or something."

"Yeah, definitely strange indeed," Nexam replied as he gave more thought to the ordeal. _Could it be…no, Lenne and Kev wouldn't know what to do with gummi blocks. Then who left them here?_ "I'm sure we'll figure this enigma out soon enough," he added, trying his best to keep high spirits up.

"You're right," Max replied. "So let's finish up with the ship already. We've got plenty of worlds to help!"

"I couldn't agree with you more," Gene added as they resumed their repairs. Shortly afterwards, the gummi ship was completely restored and ready for travel. Nexam, Max, and Gene quickly boarded and prepared for take off. The gummi ship rose from the jungle floor and blasted off back into space.

**KH-KH-KH**

Deep within the cold dungeon of the White Witch's castle of ice, a man, a rather tall one at that, completely covered from head to toe in dark blue armor traversed through the halls. On his head was a helm shaped similarly to that of a dragon's head. Upon his back was his trusty lance, which besides his incredible jumping abilities, has never failed him in battle. He was a solider of both the land and the sky, a useful asset for the upcoming battle for Kingdom Hearts. The dragoon continued to tread through the dark, cold dungeon until he found his mistress hard at work in employing another soldier, Kev. "My liege," he said as he knelt before his master. Jadis had completely robbed him of his free will, making him one of her most obedient servants.

"What brings you here Kain?" the White Witch asked as the dragoon rose.

"You have a guest that urgently requests your presence," Kain answered.

"Really and just who might this person be?" Jadis asked in response.

"He goes by the name of Ratigan," Kain answered. The White Witch's face lit up at the mention of a new ally.

"So he did decide to come to terms with his pride and join us," she replied. "Very well, tell him that I will be with him shortly. First I must finish some unattended business with the keyblade bearer's friend."

"Yes my Queen," Kain added as he bowed to the White Witch. He glanced over at Kev who was chained to the ice hard walls by his arms and legs. His blue eyes were devoid of any hope he once held dear, much like Kain's, only the rest of his face was concealed within his helm. He felt pity for the young man, but shook it off as he turned around to deliver the White Witch's message.

"Now my dear Kev," she said, pretending to care, "tell me, what was it that you said to your friend Nexam before he left your side?"

"I'm not telling you a damn thing," Kev replied snidely, groaning in pain from the punishment of the dungeon master, a bulky and unintelligent Minotaur.

"You could end all this torment if you simply speak," the White Witch added, shaking her head. "I only want what's best for you after all."

"Really, I'm touched," Kev spat out, earning a glare from Jadis. He looked her dead in the eye. "Tell me, why do you care about me and my friends, let alone what's best for me?"

"I just want to help," she replied calmly, hoping to tap into his deep seated jealousy. "You deserve so much more than what life has given you. Your best friend deserted you…"

"He didn't desert me, I told him to go!" Kev interrupted, his anger beginning to flare.

"Really, did you tell him what you wanted to say, or what he wanted to hear?" the White Witch asked. For the first time, Kev thought deeply about that moment.

"_Whoa, nice moves there buddy," Kev replied, "and thanks for saving my skin."_

"_You saved mine," Nexam added, "and that's what friends are for, right?" Kev nodded his head._

"_You got it," he replied. Kev tried to walk but couldn't. It felt as if some powerful force was pulling him in somewhere. He turned his head to see a dark portal dragging him in._

"_Kev!" Nexam yelled as he grabbed a hold of his friend. Kev knew that he didn't have much time and if Nexam held on, he would be dragged in to._

"_Forget about me," Kev replied, "go on, get to somewhere safe and find Lenne."_

"_I can't just leave you here!" Nexam rebutted._

"_Nexam," Kev replied as he stared his friend straight in the eye, "she needs you more than I do." Nexam stood there for a moment and nodded his head. "Good boy, now go, get outta here and quick."_

"_Take care of yourself," Nexam added as he ran off like his friend ordered him. He hoped, no, he knew that they would see each other again. It was just a question of when and where. Kev quit resisting and faded into the darkness._

Kev knew Nexam would stay and do everything within his power to save him, but he did leave quickly after he told him to go. _Was Nexam only showing that he cared for me just because something was happening to our world, or does he truly care? Who's more important to him, Lenne, or me? _The White Witch smiled deviously as the gears in his mind slowly began to turn away from his friends. "Nexam… That bastard, he only helped me until I told him what he wanted to hear!" Kev lashed out with his anger flaring. "He left me alone to suffer, all because of…because of…" he stopped, not being able to bring himself to say the true reason, though he knew it well. Jadis smiled once more as she read Kev's face, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "Lenne," he continued, hanging his head low.

"I told you that he wasn't your friend," the White Witch replied with a voice of sorrow that hid her true intentions. "A true friend would have plummeted into the darkness with you. In fact, right now, he's run off to play hero with his keyblade and new friends." She tapped her staff against the ice wall and an image of Nexam, Max and Gene appeared. The three of them were laughing and smiling, having a good time while Kev was stuck in this icy prison. "A true friend would understand to put the feelings of others before his own, especially when they sacrificed so much for them. Nexam would have known how you felt about Lenne if he was your friend. He would never ask you to cast aside your love for her so he could win her heart." She stopped as she gauged Kev's reaction, as he found even more truth in her words. His hatred for his former friend continued to grow as would her influence.

"The keyblade?" Kev asked.

"The weapon he was using," the White Witch answered. "You know it attracts the Heartless don't you?"

"The Heartless?" Kev asked with irritancy and confusion. He was beginning to get frustrated with all the questions he needed answers for and at his so called best friend. "You mean those shadow things that attacked my world?"

"Yes," Jadis answered, "when Nexam took that weapon, he sealed your world's fate. It was him who brought about the Heartless."

"Nexam…Nexam did that," Kev replied. Moment by moment, he began to believe that statement more and more. "He took everything from me, my family, my friends, my life, and he doesn't even care. Look at him, having fun with his new friends, pretending nothing ever happened! He's probably off having the time of his life, but me, I'm stuck here to rot while he runs away from his problems like a kid! He destroyed our world, took everything away from me and doesn't even bother looking for his so called best friend nor the person he claims to love! I hate him! I hate him!" Kev's eyes reflected the deep set anger and jealousy that once lay dormant within his heart but now consumed it.

"You can't trust Nexam," the White Witch added, satisfied with Kev's growing anger. "You never could. He only used you to benefit for his own ends. Tell me, did he ever come to you aide?"

"No, he never bothered to give a damn about me," Kev answered with his judgment completely obscured by his anger. "He was always concerned about himself and Lenne, no one else."

"I thought as much," the White Witch replied with pity for him. "Nexam was never your friend. I am however, you can trust me." Kev looked at her, now thinking clearly, and nodded.

"I will do whatever you ask," he said as he swore his loyalty. The White Witch smiled at her new victory.

"I knew you would come to your senses," she replied as she extended her staff to his shackles. The chains froze over and shattered into numerous shards landing on the ground, freeing him. "Nexam works to destroy all that I have built with the Heartless, even as we speak." Kev snorted at the statement, having had enough to hear about Nexam. "Nothing is safe as long as he roams with his keyblade. Rule by my side, and no one shall ever harm you again. Use that power to win Lenne's heart and stop Nexam's reign of terror."

"As long as I get to put that bastard out of his misery," Kev added as he slowly submitted to his inner darkness, "and take away everything he has left, just like he did to me."

"All in good time," the White Witch replied as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't we see what our guest wants?"

"As you wish my Queen," Kev added as they began to walk out of the dungeon. Jadis was satisfied that she won another powerful person to her cause. Kev had little idea of the power that lay dormant within him, a power that would match that of Nexam's. Now that he submitted to the darkness, Nexam and his keyblade would stand little chance against them. Kev's deep seated resentment and envy for the keyblade bearer would prove useful when they would be pitted against each other. The sooner Nexam was eliminated, the sooner the White Witch would have complete power over the universe.

**KH-KH-KH**

Once the gummi ship made it into space, everything went smoothly. The heroes were back to their normal forms and the new gummi blocks were functioning properly, even better than before. Best of all, there wasn't an enemy vessel in sight. Now Nexam, Max, and Gene had to do was find another world. "Say Max," the keyblade bearer said.

"Yeah, what's up?" Max asked.

"Uh, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind letting me have a go at flying the ship," Nexam answered. Something was bugging him about when he was last in the ship and he needed to test out a theory he had. Max looked over at Gene who shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't have a problem with it," Max replied. "What about you Gene?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Gene answered, hoping desperately that Nexam would be a better pilot than Max, and by better pilot, that meant no reckless stunts. Max rose from his seat and handed the controls to Nexam.

"Ok, I guess I outta give ya the basics and stuff," Max replied.

"I think I've got it," Nexam added as he moved the controls and began to pilot the ship rather well.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this," Max replied.

"Have you ever flown a gummi ship before?" Gene asked curiously, hoping he had.

"You know, now I'm not really sure," Nexam answered, as confused as Max and Gene were. "Honestly, I know I've never done this before, but somehow it all seems so familiar to me at the same time." That moment of insight was interrupted by the radar detecting nearby Heartless ships.

"Great, another wave of Heartless ships," Gene reported, rather irritated at the update. "Nexam, think you can handle it?"

"Not a clue, but I'll give it a shot," Nexam answered hopefully. "Max, you know what to do."

"You got it dude," Max replied as he manned the weapons station. He rapidly pressed the trigger, launching a massive attack at the first wave, with Nexam easily avoiding their fire. The enemy numbers were dwindling fast, something that surprised the three heroes. Naturally, twice as many came to take the place of the Heartless ships lost. That didn't stop Nexam and Max from trying to take out as many of them as possible. Multiple ships began to fire at the heroes' gummi ship. Nexam waited for the perfect moment to evade them, refusing the move the ship until it came. Once it did, he dove down, and began to spin the vessel briefly. The enemy fire completely missed them and destroyed the wave that was approaching from behind. Moments later, a new world came within sight, one that looked like a large city. Carefully, Nexam took the ship down and landed safely out of sight from any of the residents.


	9. We Scare Because We Care

We Scare Because We Care

(A/N: A great many thanks to Laredo Tornado for helping me out with some of the things on this world such as the costume of the heroes and Nexam's first Drive Form. Thanks man, I really appreciate the help.)

"Wow, those were some sweet moves!" Max said with great excitement as he congratulated Nexam on a job well done with fighting and evading that last Heartless squadron. "What exactly do you call that last one?"

"A barrel roll I think," Nexam answered, still wondering when and where he had learned how to fly. It was a relief for him to be able to fly, and rather well at that, though the question continued to haunt him. He should have remembered something like that, but for some reason, he couldn't find it in his memories.

"You know, I have to hand it to you Nexam, you're one heck of a pilot," Gene replied, patting Nexam's shoulder comfortingly.

"Thanks," Nexam added with appreciation towards his newfound friends. Truthfully, he didn't know where he'd be without Max and Gene.

"Anyway, we probably should start checking this place out, right Max?"

"You got it dude," Max answered, giving a thumbs up in approval. Nexam nodded as the three of them approached the hatch door and stepped outside. The sight of city during the late morning hours greeted the heroic trio. Tall skyscrapers appeared in the distance, with apartment buildings lined the streets filled with cars parked along the sidewalk. Most of the residents were either busying themselves at work or at home in their houses, fortunately for Nexam, Max, and Gene, or they would have received a panic induced welcome. As far as they could tell, everything was at peace. Not a single Heartless or Nobody was within viewing range. All in all, it seemed peaceful. As they walked by one of the cars, Nexam looked at their reflections and noticed their appearance hadn't changed. He didn't think too much of it at the moment, and that would prove to be a big mistake in the very near future.

Moments later, one of the city's residents screamed. As Nexam, Max, and Gene looked around, a decent sized wave of Heartless appeared, surrounding the three heroes. The group consisted of Shadows; some dark orange and green Heartless with two yellow eyes that stood upright with massive forearms armed with sharp black claws and ram like horns known as Colossuses; and a few blue frog like lizard that would shift between standing on all fours to two legs, with four yellow Heartless eyes, armed with a mouthful of fangs and a tongue that could bring its unfortunate victims within reach called Saurians. Of course these Heartless bore the mark they had seen so many times, a black heart outlined in red with a red X in the center. Nexam summoned Bare Necessities while Max drew out his shield and Gene his staff as they engaged the Heartless. Nexam swung his keyblade at the nearest enemies, those being Shadows and Saurians. Max charged at a Colossus and slammed his shield into its chest right before he jerked it up abruptly under the Heartless' chin. Gene seized this opportunity to test out his new spell. _Fire!_ A fireball emerged from his staff and headed straight towards the Colossus Max had stunned; combusting upon impact.

They continued to fight the wave off, but not to much avail. These Heartless would not go down so easily. Nexam bashed the head of a Saurian with his keyblade, moving it quickly diagonally left afterwards. Gene alternated between Blizzard, Thunder, and Fire, casting them as much as possible without completely draining him of his magic reserves. Max would smash with his shield and follow it up with an aerial assault. Nexam saw one of the Saurians lash out its tongue at him. Quickly, he grabbed it with his left hand and was dragged closer to Heartless. Once he was within a decent distance and still holding onto the tongue, he jumped, using it to boost his aerial maneuver. Nexam then left go of the tongue as he spiraled downwards swinging his keyblade at the Saurian's head. Once he landed, a nearby Colossus tackled him with its massive bulk, sending Nexam flying back a short distance. _Fire!_ The fireball left his keyblade and smashed dead center into the Heartless. _Cure!_ Gene quickly cast the healing spell to restore some of their strength. Nexam tossed him an ether to help with his magic reserves. All in all, the battle was not looking in their favor. "Got any ideas?" Gene asked as they were encircled once again.

"Max!" Nexam shouted in response. Max looked at him and nodded his head as Nexam grabbed his hand. "Agility!" he shouted as a bright white light engulfed them and dissipated like a shockwave, damaging some of the nearby Heartless. Once the light faded, Max was completely gone, only Nexam and Gene remained. Nexam's clothes had completely changed. His jacket was now a dark green with black accents and his pants a lighter green. His shoes remained grey and white, but with a dark green like his jacket in place of the blue. Nexam still wore his grey shirt underneath the jacket. Nexam now felt an incredible boost in his agility and a smaller one in his strength. The keyblade bearer had morphed into Rogue Form, and wasted no time in using his new abilities. Still holding Bare Necessities in his hand, Nexam began to dash about the area rapidly, his movements appearing to be a green streak. He easily evaded most attacks from Shadows, Colossuses, and Saurians, though they had trouble escaping from his.

Gene continued to cast various spells on the Heartless that Nexam wasn't working on at the moment, though with his newfound speed, that was hard to do since he was always on the move. He ran behind the closest Heartless, a Colossus, slashing it with his keyblade. As it turned around, Nexam swung his keyblade one last time briefly stunning the Heartless as he dashed off to fight another unsuspecting enemy. The key to eliminating most of the Heartless was attacking them when their guard was down and avoiding their moves by never remaining stationary, always moving about the battlefield. _Thunder! _Gene cast the spell in his general area, protecting himself from the nearby Heartless, and taking out some of the weaker ones. Nexam continued to attack from the front and the rear, moving to the other side before the Heartless had a chance to swing at him, and running out of range so the monster Heartless only swatted at air. He charged at the closest Heartless, slashing it with his keyblade once. Immediately afterwards, he bounced off to the next one, doing the same thing. Nexam continued to swing at the remaining Heartless and ricocheting off to the next one, repeating this process over and over as he ran towards each one, appearing to be nothing more than a constantly moving green streak. Moments later, after Nexam had finished up with his Ricochet Strike, the Heartless were defeated, releasing any captive hearts they had as they faded out of existence. He began to glow just like before, with Max returning once the light faded, and his clothes resuming their normal colors. "Whoa, talk about intense!" Max said as they put up their weapons.

"What was that by the way?" Gene asked.

"I think it's called a Drive Form, Rogue Form to be specific," Nexam answered as he remembered what the Blue Fairy had told him earlier. "The Blue Fairy mentioned something about it before we ran into you guys. Other than that, I really don't know too much about the Drive Forms."

"Works for me," Max replied. "It did manage to finish off those Heartless."

"That's for sure," Gene added, "I guess we'll learn more about it later on." Nexam nodded, knowing that all too well. Again, they heard a scream. "More Heartless?" Gene asked with slight irritation.

"I'm not seeing any," Max answered as they surveyed the area. From what they could see, everything was clear.

"I don't think it's the Heartless this time," Nexam added as he tried to figure out what it was. Little did he know that he was the subject of great fear, and not from his keyblade, though it did add to it. The person screamed once more, and this time, they caught what they said.

"Aaaah! It's a human child!" someone nearby screamed, completely filled with fear. Instantly Gene and Max looked at Nexam who had one of the most perplexed expressions on his face to date. Residents from the city began to run about, some rambling about calling the Child Detection Agency and others in pure panic. For the first time since they arrived in the city, the trio finally saw what the city's residents looked like, monsters, and incidentally, they were terrified of Nexam. Moments later, blue trucks with the letters CDA appeared on the streets. Various monsters wearing protective yellow suits emerged from them, surrounding the area. Today was not a day for warm welcomes for the heroes. Instinctively, Nexam, Max, and Gene pulled out their weapons preparing to defend themselves once more. The CDA agents circled around the group, pulling out their gear to detain the human threat. As they were awaiting orders, the squadron's leader noticed Nexam's keyblade.

"We've got a code 082, detain the subject," he said through the voice transmitter. The response team raised their weapons, leaving Nexam, Max, and Gene with no choice but to defend themselves.

"Gene, can you freeze them so we can get away?" Nexam asked. Gene nodded.

"On it, just distract them a bit," he answered. Nexam and Max nodded as they charged in opposite directions, knocking the weapons out of the CDA agents' hands, leaving them in surprise. _Blizzard!_ Gene's spell hit its mark, incasing the group in blocks of ice. Before someone could thaw them out, the trio ran quickly out of sight and into a nearby alley. The squadron leader and one of the unfrozen agents went to work on freeing their comrades from the ice.

"After them!" The squadron leader shouted after they had thawed everyone out. "Bring the keyblade bearer back in one piece!" The CDA agents ran throughout the city searching for the three heroes.

**KH-KH-KH**

"Uh, Gene, I think we may have a problem," Nexam said as he caught his breath. This was something new for him, being the subject that inspires fear, considering monsters are the ones that scare people.

"I'm not so sure," Gene replied. Nexam eyed him questioningly. "Remember, the spell I cast on us works for all worlds."

"Then why not on this world?" Nexam asked with great irritancy. "If the monsters here are afraid of humans, then why don't we look like them?"

"Maybe you're nothing to fear here," Max answered after giving the situation some thought. "That has to be why your spell didn't work!"

"He's right," Gene added, "something's not right about this."

"All right, I'll give you that one," Nexam replied, "now that you mention it, the residents here didn't seem to scream at the Heartless, did they?"

"Good point," Gene added.

"Anyway, you think you could do something about my appearance so we don't blow our cover?"

"I'll give it a shot," Gene answered as he pulled out his staff once more, aiming it at Nexam, who had his eyes closed. When he opened them, he saw that he remained the same.

"No dice," Nexam replied with disappointment.

"Now what?" Max asked. "We can't have him out in the city like this."

"I know," Gene answered. "Ok, we're going to have to either buy or make a disguise for him."

"That just might work," Nexam replied with a bit hopefully. He stood still, silencing Max and Gene. They could hear the sound of footsteps getting closer, meaning the CDA was patrolling about. "That'll have to wait, we need to run now!" Without wasting another second, they began to run through the city once more, staying out of sight as much as possible while avoiding any nearby CDA agents. Eventually, the group found themselves outside of a large power plant with the name Monsters, Inc. on it. A nearby billboard carried the company's logo, a blue M with an eye in the center, and slogan, "We scare because we care." Nexam didn't have time to dwell on it, for the CDA was right behind them. With the factory being the only building in sight, Nexam, Max, and Gene took the only sensible option, seeking refuge in it. Had they been slightly more observant, they might have noticed the CDA trucks parked outside of the building, but at this point, running was their top concern.

Upon entering the lobby, the trio saw something that made them stop dead in their tracks. Inside the building were numerous CDA agents gathered around a sock. One of them walked up slowly to it and placed a metal dome over it, screwing it in place. The agent stepped back and a small controlled boom was heard. He unscrewed the dome and all that was left of the sock was a small pile of ash on the ground. Nexam gulped nervously, not wanting to think of what could happen to him after watching what the CDA did to that one sock. He saw one of the agents put a hand to his head, trying to listen to a transmission, which could only be about Nexam, Max, and Gene at this point. Immediately after they noticed this, the trio ran deeper into the factory before the rest of the CDA could do something against them. The sooner Nexam could prove he meant no harm, the better.

**KH-KH-KH**

Within the scaring facility of the factory, incidentally the same area that Nexam, Gene, and Max would soon arrive in stood a blue-furred giant with purple spots on his fur and two small horns on the top of his head. Sulley's gentle nature contrasted with the fact that he was the factory's top scarer, harnessing the screams of children with relative ease. However, his current task was taking care of some paper work while his short green Cyclops friend and partner Mike was out on a date. Glancing up from his work, Sulley noticed a white door with purple flowers painted on it that lead to a child's closet was still out after hours. This was against company policy, lest a child come into contact with their world, the one thing they feared the most. Curious as to why this door was still out, he stood up and walked to the door and opened it. "Hello, anyone in here?" he asked as he stepped into the dark room. Nothing save for a bed and the toys belonging to a young child could be found. Not wanting to miss anything, Sulley gave the room another thorough look, still nada. He shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

His task now complete, the blue monster went back to the paperwork he was helping Mike out with. Every now and then, he heard giggle like noises coming from somewhere in the facility. Occasionally he would look up from his work to see where they were coming from, but to little avail. Sulley' attention was grabbed by a different sound this time, the sound of footsteps, and running in his direction from what he could make out of it. He stood up from his desk once more and saw the most terrifying thing he could imagine, a human child. And what would his reaction be other than sheer terror? Of course that changed when Nexam, Max, and Gene arrived on the scene. Now there were two humans in their world. "Aaah!" Sulley screamed as he ran about the room, doing his best to stay out of range from Nexam and the small girl that had escaped from her room when Sulley opened the door.

"Again?" Nexam asked a bit downcast, with his eyes starring at the floor.

"Looks like someone else is in the same boat you are," Max replied as he pointed at the little girl. Nexam felt slightly relived that a small child could cause as much terror as him in this world, though he was far from comfortable. The sudden appearance of a squadron of Heartless, much like the one they encountered earlier, did little to ease that feeling, though it provided Nexam with a source to take his aggression on.

"Well what do you know, something to vent on," Nexam added as he summoned his keyblade. "Guess its time for some more recreational fun."

"Works for me," Max replied as he pulled out his shield.

"Might as well make the most of this," Gene added as he whipped out his staff. Quickly, the heroes charged at the Heartless, Nexam and Max attacking with their weapons while Gene began to cast various spells. The Heartless were fighting back, but not to their full extent like they normally do. After a few more swings of their weapons, and a rapid combination of Fire and Blizzard spells, the Heartless faded away in the same manner that they appeared, leaving a dumbfounded Nexam, Max and Gene. "Ok, what just happened?" Max asked.

"Beats me," Gene answered as he put up his staff. Nexam and Max did the same with their respective weapons.

"Likewise," Nexam replied. He looked over at the area where Sulley had been, which was now vacant. Even the little girl was out of sight. Quickly they began searching for the two, eventually making their way to the locker room. In there they saw Sulley with his back turned to them grabbing his duffel bag and something to use like gloves or tongs to put the little girl in it. "Hey, are you all right?" Nexam asked.

"Aah, I didn't leave that door out there, it was there when I got here," Sulley answered instantly, trying to prove his innocence. "I didn't mean to let a human child in."

"Hey, no one's accusing you of anything," Gene replied. Sulley froze and slowly turned around, starring straight at Nexam, completely filled with dread.

"Please don't hurt me, I didn't mean anything by it," Sulley added.

"No one here's gonna hurt you," Nexam replied calmly, hoping to win his trust. "Believe me, that's the last thing on our minds."

"Or maybe not on them at all," Max added. Gene nodded approvingly. The little girl was moving around the bag she was placed in.

"You said the girl doesn't belong here," Gene replied. Sulley nodded.

"Yeah, she must have escaped when I investigated her room," he answered. "Oh man, the company's gonna have a fit with the CDA when they find out about this."

"Then let's help you return her to where she belongs," Nexam replied, offering his hand out in friendship. Sulley was unsure of what to do, but slowly reached out and shook his hand, disinfecting it afterwards. Now he began to question whether humans were toxic or not.

"I'm James P. Sullivan," Sulley said as he introduced himself, "but you can call me Sulley."

"Sure thing Sulley," Nexam replied. "Well, I'm Nexam and these are my friends Max and Gene," he added, pointing to the respective person when he introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Gene added.

"Let's get to business then, shall we?" Max asked.

"Right," Nexam answered, "let's get the girl back to that door and see what we can do." Sulley nodded his head as he grabbed the duffel bag and led the group back into the scaring floor they had been in moments ago. When they arrived on the scene, the room was basically unchanged except for the closest door. The frame it had been stationed between was now empty, and the door was no where to be found.

"Great, now the door's gone missing," Sulley said with disappointment. He didn't want to have the human girl in their world any longer, fearing the worst if they found her with him.

"What's next, another Heartless squad?" Max asked. As if someone or something was compelled to answer his rhetorical question, the same group of Saurians, Colossuses, and Shadows appeared once more, surrounding Nexam, Max, Gene, and Sulley, who still held onto his duffel bag.

"Why did you have to say something?" Gene asked as he shook his head.

"I didn't think this would happen," Max answered defensively, "My bad, sorry guys."

"This is just great," Sulley added as he set the duffel bag down, zipping it up most of the way, but leaving enough of it open so the girl could breathe.

"Sulley, can you fight?" Nexam asked.

"Sure, if the situation calls for it," Sulley answered. Nexam grinned smugly.

"Trust me on this one, it calls for it," he added, feeling a bit better about their current situation.


	10. Monster Mayhem

Author's Note: Sorry about the lack of updates, but a combination of writer's block, first semester at college, work, and some great games (Xenosaga III, FFXII, and Twilight Princess) made this take awhile. With that said, the chapter's finally up so enjoy. Oh yeah, updates will come whenever possible, just figured I should point that out incase anyone's wondering.

Disclaimer: All characters are copyrights of Disney and Square-Enix except for The Five Judges, Nexam, Lenne, and Kev.

Monster Mayhem

The decent sized horde of Saurians, Colossuses, and Shadows began to close in on Nexam, Max, Gene, and Sulley. Nexam summoned Bare Necessities once more, with Max drawing out his shield and Gene his staff. Sulley swatted a group of nearby Shadows and one Saurian with his large arms, first with the left, followed quickly by the right, bringing them up after the swipe. Max ran up to a Colossus to then jump, slamming his shield into its chest, stunning it briefly. He took this opportunity to bash the top of its head while he was still airborne, before landing safely behind the Heartless. Gene zapped the area surrounding him with a quickly cast Thunder spell followed by a Fire spell. Nexam lifted his keyblade over his head and brought it down with great speed and force on the head of a Saurian, quickly moving it horizontally to the left, and then to the right immediately afterwards.

A Colossus charged at Sulley, lowering its horned head to ram him. Mere moments before impact, Sulley extended his arms and grabbed a hold of the Heartless; stopping it dead in its tracks. The two stood at a standstill, each one trying to overpower the other and push away, but with neither one budging. Sulley quickly head butted the Colossus, sending it into a brief daze as it dropped its arms from Sulley's. He then punched with his right arm and rammed his left shoulder into the Heartless with a monstrous roar. _Blizzard!_ Gene aimed the ice spell at a Saurian that was trying to attack Max from behind with its tongue, disrupting the attack. Max spun around in a semi-circle, scattering the nearby Shadows back and into the air briefly. He then tossed his shield like a frisbee at the Saurian, with Gene casting a Fire spell on the flying weapon, adding to the damage it did when it collided with the Heartless. Nexam ran up to the nearest Colossus, holding his keyblade parallel to the ground at his right side. As he closed in on his target, he thrust Bare Necessities forward, jabbing it into the Heartless. Nexam followed this motion by moving his keyblade up diagonally to the right.

A Saurian in the general vicinity swung its tail at an unsuspecting keyblade bearer once he finished his attack. Nexam was sent sliding across the Scare Floor, holding the edge of his keyblade on the ground as a brake. The Heartless tried to drag him closer with its tongue, only to be deflected by a Fire spell from Nexam. Though the attack missed its original mark, the Saurian's tongue still hit him in the leg. _Cure! _Gene immediately cast the healing spell on the group, restoring their energy, just in time too. Some Heartless still remained, so they needed to be at full strength, or close too. Nexam continued to swing his keyblade at the nearby Heartless, while acting on the defensive blocking and parrying their attacks. Max was doing the same thing with his shield, slamming it into the heads and chests of the surrounding Heartless whenever the opportunity presented itself. _Fire!_ Gene cast the spell on the Saurian and Colossus creeping behind Sulley. Immediately they shifted their attention to the mage after being blasted on the back with his spell. Before they could make any more progress on their advance, Gene stopped them with a quickly cast Blizzard spell. _Thunder!_ He hit them with the final spell, shattering any ice that had collected on their bodies. Once Sulley had finished pummeling the Saurian he was attacking, he charged at the group Gene had zapped, ramming into them with his shoulder. The Heartless that were hit by him quickly vanished after receiving their brutal defeat. The heroes began to breathe heavily, having nearly fully exhausted what strength and magic they had, with its conservation their priority. Unfortunately the Heartless horde was not yet vanquished, and with no potions or ethers in stock, Nexam, Max, Gene, and Sulley needed to come up with an idea and fast. "Sulley!" Nexam shouted.

"Nexam!" he shouted in response as he grabbed the keyblade bearer's hand. "SCARE TACTICS!" They both yelled. One by one the lights in the Scare Floor began to shut off, allowing only a miniscule amount of moonlight to escape through the windows. Startled, the Heartless began to gather in one area as Sulley slowly began to creep with his great expertise towards them. Only when he was close enough did they see him, but it was too late, they were paralyzed with fear by the monstrous sight. Sulley lowered his head and extended both of his arms as if he was trying to grab the Heartless, making sure they noticed his claws. He gave a loud roar that resonated through the room, binding the Heartless in place. The blue furred giant stomped on the ground creating a light tremor. He swung his arms, throwing what was left of the horde into the air. From the shadows, Nexam jumped up after them, releasing a mighty battle cry as he swung Bare Necessities at the Heartless, defeating some and sending the rest flying back to the ground. He landed on the ground standing on one side of the group while Sulley stood opposite of him. Quickly they charged towards the center, quickly eliminating any remaining Heartless, forcing them to release any captive hearts. Nexam and Sulley stood breathing a bit harder than before as Max and Gene ran towards them casting one last Cure spell for the group, restoring just enough of their strength.

"That takes care of them," Nexam said as his keyblade vanished from sight. Sulley quickly grabbed the duffel bag and peeked inside it to make sure the little girl was safe and sound. He let out a sigh of relief to only be nerve wrecked again.

"So, what now?" Max asked.

"We need to leave and find a place to keep you three and the girl safe," Sulley answered. "Mike's not gonna like this."

"Who's Mike?" Gene asked.

"My roommate and best friend," Sulley answered. "He's out on a date right now and I'd hate to disturb him, but we need to get you guys out of sight before the CDA finds you, or whoever brought those things here."

"CDA?" Nexam asked.

"Child Detection Agency," Sulley answered as he kept a watchful eye out for them. After he saw that the coast was clear, he continued. "They're the people in the yellow suits that come to detain anything related to humans or humans themselves should they enter the city, which has never happened before, and it would be in our best interests to make sure no one knows." Nexam, Max, and Gene nodded in response.

"Gotcha," Max replied as he gave a thumbs up as indication of agreement. "So, we gonna find Mike?"

"I guess so," Sulley answered, letting a sigh. "It'd be best if he knows as soon as possible so we can calm him down."

"So where is he now?" Gene asked.

"Harryhausen's," Sulley answered, smacking his head with his hand as he realized something.

"Something up?" Nexam asked.

"I forgot he went there," Sulley answered, "Harryhausen's is the best restaurant in town, you need a reservation to get in, and even those are hard to come by. People will also be sitting in the lobby waiting to get a table…"

"And we need to avoid crowds of any size at all costs," Nexam added trying to think of a solution. "Is there an alley or something nearby where we can hide?"

"Yeah, there's one not too far from it," Sulley answered. "Sorry guys, but you understand, right?"

"Don't sweat it," Max answered.

"But we probably should leave quickly before someone decides to come in," Gene replied. Sulley nodded and led the group out of the factory, holding on tightly to the duffel bag containing the main source of their problems. He didn't really worry too much on Nexam, Max, and Gene on the account that two of them weren't human and they understood his dilemma, but the young girl, none of them could make heads or tails out of anything that came out of her mouth. A great dread of unpredictability fell over Sulley, but he shook it quickly to regain focus on their current task.

**KH-KH-KH**

The purple reptilian Randall entered the scare floor wheeling a cart of what appeared to be tanks for the screams that powered the city. He stopped at the empty frame that earlier held the door to the young girl's room. Suddenly, he froze, taking a glance at the room, noticing that it wasn't in the same state as he left it. In fact, it appeared that some type of struggle had taken place not too long ago. He let out a grunt of annoyance, hoping the Heartless didn't do anything to blow his cover, for his mission was confidential, with only Waternoose besides himself knowing about it. That's when he examined some of the marks on the floor, noticing them to be scratches made by a metallic object. "So he's here, huh," he said to himself as he summoned a small group of Heartless. The Colossuses, Saurians, and Shadows appeared, focusing their attention on their commander. "Find the keyblade bearer and bring him to me," Randall ordered with a sneer, "and dispose of anyone else that gets in your way." The Heartless vanished to complete their new assignment, with Randall hoping that the keyblade bearer discovered nothing of his plot.

**KH-KH-KH**

The night proved to be in their favor as Sulley led Nexam, Max, and Gene though the city with ease, making sure to check the area for any citizens that might be up and about. Sulley made sure to avoid the areas of high population and or traffic as a precaution, not wanting to leave too much to chance. Eventually, the group made it to their destination, the alley nearby the restaurant. "Ok," Sulley said, "You three wait here and I'll go talk to Mike so we can get out of here as soon as possible. Please just stay out of sight, nothing personal."

"We understand," Nexam replied, giving a reassuring nod.

"Yeah, no prob," Max added.

"What do you plan to do with the duffel bag and the girl?" Gene asked.

"I'll take it with me so I can keep an eye on her," Sulley replied. Gene nodded his head in approval of the seemingly sound idea. Sulley began to walk towards the front door of Harryhausen's before he was out of sight from the group.

"Let's just hope everything goes smoothly," Gene said as they anxiously awaited the results.

"Hey, didn't you scold me for jinxing us earlier?" Max asked with a thoughtful look on his face as he caught Gene in his earlier predicament. Nexam closed his eyes as he briefly lowered his head and shook it.

"Unfortunately yes," Gene answered, dreading the point his friend would make. Max grinned smugly.

"And what would you consider that?" he asked curiously.

"An optimistic statement perhaps," Nexam answered saving Gene the grief of doing it himself.

"Hmm, wouldn't what I said earlier fall under that same category?" Max asked. Nexam briefly regretted adding to the debate, but shook it off. He couldn't help but find it humorous to say the least, though he had some trouble restraining himself from chuckling.

"Truce?" Gene asked.

"Truce," Max replied as they shook on it.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sulley quickly made his way through the restaurant after being pointed in the direction of Mike's table. Being the company's top scarer has its benefits, which he found out that Mike made use of in securing a table for the evening. A short while later he came across his obsessive friend and his date, Celia Mae, a pink skinned medusa like creature with purple snakes for hair and one eye like Mike. The two were busy chatting away and enjoying each others' company. Sulley's guilt and nerves started to get the best of him, but now wasn't the time for that. "Oh, fancy seeing you here," he said slightly louder than he planned since he was a tad bit nervous, especially since the bag in his hand contained a human child.

"Sulley?" Mike asked blinking to make sure it was his friend he saw before him.

"What are you doing here?" Celia asked just as confused as Mike. To answer her question, Sulley lifted up the menu in front of Mike and leaned into the shielded area.

"Ok, what's going on?" Mike asked, whispering so they wouldn't be heard. "Please tell me this isn't about the paperwork."

"No, but something else came up at the factory so I don't think I finished," Sulley answered. Mike's eye grew wider.

"What do you mean something else came up?" Mike asked, with a hint of irritancy in his softened voice.

"There was a door left," Sulley answered, clinging tighter to the bag. Little did he know that his stowaway was starting to get restless. "And we have a problem." Celia was tapping against the table top waiting for them to finish up.

"Ahem," she said, hoping to get their attention. Mike peered from the menu and held one of his four fingers up, indicating that they needed just a bit longer. With that done, he quickly returned to the safety of the menu. Celia's patience was growing thin as the snakes that made up her hair began to hiss and rattle.

"What do you mean we have a problem?" Mike asked with his whispering voice getting fed up by the situation. "So there was a door left, strange as it is, as long as nothing escaped…" He stopped mid sentence when he looked at Sulley's expression of dread. "Sulley, what happened?"

"Look here in the bag," he answered, making sure to punctuate each word to stress its importance while pointing his finger at the bag with each word he said. Mike looked in the bag and saw nothing.

"Sulley, there's nothing in there," Mike said. Sulley's expression changed from dread to horror as he scanned the room looking for something. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the little girl crawling about the floor.

"Oh no!" Sulley said forgetting to whisper as he immediately stood up from his seat and began to chase the toddler. Mike's eye was opened as wide as possible with a slight twitch as he followed his friend shouting his name, completely forgetting about Celia. The girl had made her way to a red octopus that was busy cutting up meats and vegetables.

"Boo!" she said with enthusiasm. The octopus turned around and screamed. Everyone in the restaurant looked in his direction and saw the dreaded sight. Instantly and panic broke out as the monsters were screaming and running out of the restaurant. The red octopus grabbed a phone and started dialing.

"There's a human here!" he yelled at the person on the other line. Sulley and Mike pushed through the crowd and found the little girl jumping up and down on the floor. Sulley looked around and found an empty take out box and scooped the girl inside.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked with frustration, confusion, and fear. "Leave that thing and let's get outta here!"

"We need to go now!" Sulley answered as he grabbed his friend's arm and began to make their way to the door.

**KH-KH-KH**

Nexam, Max, and Gene stood in the alley waiting patiently for Sulley to return. Nexam was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in thought while Gene kept watch and Max dozed off. To say the least they were bored out of their skulls, but there was nothing they could do until they heard the panic filled screams. Instantly they stopped goofing around and looked towards the restaurant to see every costumer running out of it as if their lives depended on it. "Great," Nexam said as his hand found the top of his head and slid down slowly. Before he could say anything else, vans and helicopters with CDA painted on them showed up, bringing with them a whole squad. Nexam's mouth began to twitch at the right side. At this point, he didn't know what to think or feel.

"We have to have the worst luck possible," Gene added, feeling the same as Nexam was. Max looked at Gene with a smug expression on his face as he prepared to say something and celebrate the occasion. "We called a truce, remember," Gene continued without even looking at Max.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Max replied not even bothering to hide his disappointment. "I was hoping you forgot."

"In this case, glad to disappoint," Gene added confidently. Max muttered something about not being able to have fun but stopped when he saw Sulley clutching a small green Cyclops who he guessed was his friend Mike and holding a take out box in his other hand.

"I believe that's our cue," Nexam said as the two approached them.

"Sulley, Sulley, what are you doing taking that thing…" Mike shouted, stopping when he saw Nexam. "TWO, THERE'S TWO OF 'EM?"

"Please calm down Mike," Sulley replied as Nexam, Max, and Gene joined them running towards their apartment.

"Mike! Mike!" Celia shouted as she tried to catch up with the group. Mike turned around only to see some of the CDA members blocking her path.

"Celia!" Mike shouted back as he tried to run to her but Sulley's grip was too strong.

"We don't have time for that," his friend replied urgently. Reluctantly, Mike agreed, mouthing 'I'm sorry' as he ran off.

"She's going to kill me for this, unless those two things don't first," he added, shaking his head.

**KH-KH-KH**

They soon left the chaotic scene and arrived at their destination. Fortunately for them, everyone was too busy watching the recent events on the news, so no one noticed the strange group enter. Regardless, they quickly made their way into the apartment shared by Mike and Sulley, breathing hard from the run and trying to avoid anyone and everyone. Sulley placed the take out box on the floor and slowly back away from it as the girl pushed through the top and jumped out. Mike took refuge behind some furniture and his friend followed suit. "Sulley, what exactly is going on here?" Mike asked as the toddler began to make their way to them.

"Remember what I was telling you at the restaurant about the door?" Sulley asked. Mike nodded in response. "Well, she sort of escaped from the door."

"And you bring her here and to the restaurant?" Mike asked. "Why didn't you put her back, wait, you touched her, and you grabbed me… Aaah." He frantically ran around looking for his disincentive spay. Once he found the bottle, he pushed down on the top and tried to spray his hands, but unfortunately got it in his eye. He jumped about, screaming about the burning pain in his eye as it turned red. The girl found the whole thing hilarious and started to giggle, causing the lights to flicker and go off.

"What was that?" Sulley asked.

"I don't know," Mike answered, "but it would be great if it doesn't do it again. Speaking of things I don't know of, who are you three, and could we get some light in here?" Nexam and Gene quickly cast a Thunder spell to bring back the power. Sulley then noticed the little girl was hugging him.

"Kitty," she said happily. He screamed slightly and shook her off his leg and ran to hide behind something else. She began to follow him. He looked around and found Mike's teddy bear. Without a second thought, he tossed it at her and she went for it instead.

"No, not Little Mike!" Mike added frantically as he tried to take back his precious stuffed animal. She began to cry as he as almost had it back in his possession.

"Let her have it," Nexam replied. Mike stared at him wanting to rebut, looking at Sulley for support.

"He's right, it'll keep her occupied," he added. Mike sighed and walked over to Sulley.

"Fine, I'll let her have it," he replied, "but I want some answers."

"And you'll get them," Nexam added. "Let's start with introductions, I'm Nexam, and with me are Max and Gene." He made sure to point to the respective person so they could address each other easier. "And there's a bigger problem here besides the little girl."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked confused. "That thing is a killing machine!" he added as he pointed to the toddler cuddling his teddy bear. "And you could be too!"

"I'll ask about that one later," Nexam replied. "Gene, maybe you should take this one."

"Ok, this may sound weird, but has anything strange happened in the factory lately?" Gene asked.

"Not really, other than those new workers we have," Mike answered, "you know, the ones with yellow eyes, weird heart thingy on the chest, never speak, real creepy."

"So the Heartless work with you guys?" Max asked.

"Heartless?" Sulley asked, "so that's what they're called. I was wondering why you said that."

"Good name for them," Mike added, "but why are they here, and what are they doing?"

"They're doing something?" Sulley asked.

"Yeah, you're usually too busy scarring to notice," Mike answered. "I can't say what, but something about them doesn't seem right."

"You've got that right," Nexam replied, "those things aren't something you want to have around. They steal the hearts of whoever they can find." Mike and Sulley looked at Nexam with newfound dread at his statement. The girl found some paper and crayons and began coloring.

"And those things attacked us after the girl escaped," Sulley added.

"Wait, we have those things chasing us now too?" Mike asked. "Why me, why does this have to happen?"

"I wish I knew," Nexam answered, "but maybe the Heartless are after the kid."

"It does make sense," Gene replied. "Sulley, did you see any of them before the girl got out?"

"Now that you mention it no," Sulley answered.

"Say Mike, what about you," Max added. "Did you see any before you left?"

"That's another strange thing," Mike answered. "Whatever it was they were doing, they stopped after lunch. I haven't seen them since."

"Someone has to be controlling them," Nexam replied, remembering the last world they visited, "the question is who." As they pondered this, the little girl began to yawn.

"I'll go find a place for her to sleep," Sulley said as he went to his room to make a bed for her. Knowing that their hosts were terrified of humans, Nexam picked up her and followed Sulley.

"Please don't touch anything," Mike added as Nexam walked off. He nodded in response, not wanting to upset them any further. Went he made it to the room, Sulley had just finished putting some newspaper on the ground as if the toddler was some kind of pet. Chuckling to himself, Nexam set her down and she headed for the bed.

"Ok, this is where you sleep," Sulley said turning around to find her jumping on his bed. "Uh Nexam?"

"I think she wants to sleep here," he answered. "It's probably the closest thing to her home."

"Oh right," Sulley replied. He noticed that she wasn't going to sleep immediately. "Uh, how do we tell her to go to sleep?"

"To be honest I'm not sure," Nexam answered. "I don't really have experience with little kids. Maybe try using gestures."

"Sure," Sulley replied. "Go," he added, making two of his fingers walk across his hand, "to," he held out two fingers, "sleep," he finished, holding his hands together like a pillow and pretended to sleep, even snoring. The girl uttered something Nexam and Sulley couldn't understand, but pointed at the closet.

"Sulley," Nexam added, "when Mike said you were scarring, what exactly did he mean?"

"Well, screams are what give the city its power," Sulley answered, "so Monsters, Inc. sends some of us known as scarers to go into the rooms of kids at night and scare them so we can harness their screams."

"And you guys have doors to every room?" Nexam asked. Sulley nodded. "So does that mean someone has to scare her?"

"Yes," Sulley replied. "That's it; she thinks there's someone in the closet!" The realization finally hit both of them. Sulley walked to the closet door and opened it. "See, no monsters in here." The girl looked a little relieved but still didn't go to sleep. "Alright, how about I stay here until you fall asleep?" The girl nodded and Sulley sat near the bed waiting for her to tire out. A short while later, she did and he got up and followed Nexam into the other room. Quietly, he closed the door and noticed one of her drawings on the ground.

"Anything wrong?" Nexam asked.

"No, but this looks familiar," Sulley added as he pointed to the drawing. Max, Gene, and Mike who were busy talking approached the two and looked at the drawing.

"You know, that kinda looks like Randall," Mike replied.

"Who's that?" Max asked.

"Just a pain in the rear, and the company's second best scarer," Mike answered. Max and Gene nodded, with Nexam guessing that Mike had told them how things worked here. "So, how's the kid?"

"She's asleep," Sulley answered, "and I think I could use some rest."

"We all could I'm sure," Gene added. "Well then, good night,"

"Good night," the others replied as they searched for places to sleep. They still had no idea what they were going to do tomorrow, but a good night's rest should relieve them a bit, and without a second thought, the group fell asleep.


End file.
